New Delhi, July 21 -- On Saturday, India's first space unicorn, Skyroot Aerospace, successfully completed its maiden orbital space mission. India now joins the US and France as one of only three countries with an operating private rocket. But this is only the beginning.

How far is India from building a scaled-up private space industry? Mint explains.

Hyderabad-based Skyroot became the first private Indian company to launch a rocket into orbit from the country. That is significant because until 2020, India's space sector was reserved almost entirely for government-led activity.

With the sector opened up to private players, India has now joined a select group of countries with companies capable of launching orbital space missions. That c...