Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk yesterday at Blair House in Washington. Musk, who was accompanied by his three children and partner Shivon Zilis, presented PM Modi with a noteworthy gift.
Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration, gave PM Modi a heatshield tile from SpaceX’s Starship test flight 5, which took place in October 2024. The tile was inscribed with the words: “Starship Flight Test 5. October 13, 2024.”
The hexagonal ceramic heatshield tiles on SpaceX’s Starship are specifically designed to protect the spacecraft during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The mission, launched on October 13, 2024, was especially significant as it successfully recovered the Super Heavy booster at the launch site, marking a major achievement in aerospace technology.
In exchange, PM Modi gifted Musk’s children three iconic Indian books: The Crescent Moon by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, The Great RK Narayan Collection, and Panchatantra by Pandit Vishnu Sharma. Photos shared by the Prime Minister showed Musk’s children reading these books.
PM Modi later posted on X, stating, “Had a very good meeting with Elon Musk in Washington DC. We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology, and innovation. I shared India’s efforts towards reform and the goal of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.’”
