New Delhi, July 18 -- A handwritten postcard carrying the words "Vande Mataram" was among the payloads aboard Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1. Minutes later, those words became the defining moment of India's first privately developed orbital launch.

"Vande Mataram is in orbit."

Those five words summed up years of hard work.

Moments after Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 successfully completed its maiden orbital mission, Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-founder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace, shared the update with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a phone call. Along with multiple technology payloads, the rocket had carried a handwritten postcard from the Prime Minister bearing the same message.

The exchange lasted only a few moments. But it captured ...