What is the popular name of India's first Mars orbiter?

India’s first Mars orbiter was popularly known as Mangalyaan.

Mangalyaan is the informal name of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission, also called MOM. The name combines Sanskrit words meaning “Mars” and “vehicle” or “craft.” ISRO launched the spacecraft on November 5, 2013, and it entered orbit around Mars on September 24, 2014.

The mission was designed primarily as a technology demonstrator, testing India’s ability to plan, navigate, communicate with, and operate a spacecraft between planets. It also carried five scientific instruments, including a Mars Colour Camera, a methane sensor, and instruments for studying the Martian atmosphere and exosphere.

Mangalyaan made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first country to do so on its first attempt. A common mistake is to treat Chandrayaan as the answer: Chandrayaan missions concern the Moon, while Aditya-L1 studies the Sun. Shukrayaan is a proposed or planned Venus mission, not India’s first Mars spacecraft.