India to launch Mars mission this year: President

India will launch its first space mission to Mars this year, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday.

"Several space missions are planned for 2013, including India's first mission to Mars and the launch of our first navigational satellite," Mukherjee said in his maiden Address to the joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session.

The Indian Space Research Organisation will also put in orbit the first of its seven satellites of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).

The system is India's version of the Global Positioning System.