PM Modi Receives Starship Heatshield Tile from Musk
On February 13, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the Blair House in Washington, D.C. During their meeting, Musk presented PM Modi with a hexagonal ceramic heatshield tile that had flown on SpaceX’s Starship test flight 5 in October 2024. This exchange, which also featured Modi gifting classic Indian books to Musk’s children, represented a deeper connection between India and Musk’s initiatives in space, mobility, and technology.
Key Highlights
Gift Exchange
- Elon Musk’s Gift: A heatshield tile from Starship Flight Test 5 (October 13, 2024), engraved with its mission details.
- Significance of the Tile: Designed to protect spacecraft from extreme heat during atmospheric re-entry.
PM Modi’s Gift
Three Indian classic books,
- The Crescent Moon by Rabindranath Tagore
- The Great RK Narayan Collection
- Panchatantra by Pandit Vishnu Sharma
Meeting Details
- Date & Location: February 13, 2025, at Blair House, Washington, D.C.
Attendees
- PM Narendra Modi
- Elon Musk
- Musk’s partner Shivon Zilis
- Musk’s three children