Crossing a major milestone in the country's space history, ISRO's Mars Orbiter mission ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence for the first time in an attempt to reach the red planet's orbit.

The critical manoeuvre to place the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in the Mars Transfer Trajectory was successfully carried out almost an hour past midnight last night. In a statement, the ISRO said following the completion of this manoeuvre, the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended