'It is too early to estimate the cost of the mission to Mars. At current prices, it will be twice the cost incurred in the maiden moon mission, which was Rs.380 crore. We have to start from scratch to build a spacecraft, the launch vehicle and other support systems to operate the mission, which will last more than a year or two,' the official noted.

The space agency plans to use the powerful geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) Mark-III for the Mars mission, as the spacecraft had to be first put in the earth's orbit and raised up to Martian orbit, using ion thrusters and liquid engines.

'It is too early to talk about the mission's journey as we are yet to design the spacecraft and build the advanced version of the rocket (GSLV-3). We have a long way to go,' the space official added.

Incidentally, the maiden moon mission was aborted Sunday after the space agency's deep space network at Byalalu, about 40 km from here, failed to restore radio contact with the 514 kg spacecraft, which is orbiting about 200 km away from the lunar surface.

Though the US and Russia had launched missions to Mars, other space-faring nations such as China and Japan are planning to join the Martian race as part of their planetary expeditions. Even the European Space Agency (ESA) is mulling a joint mission to Mars in the coming decade.

The US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aug 29 proposed to Russia for a manned mission to Mars by 2030, using the International Space Station (ISS) as a launch-pad to the red planet.