Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, yesterday at the Blair House in Washington. Mr Musk, accompanied by his three children and partner Shivon Zilis, gave Prime Minister Modi a gift that drew a lot of attention.
The billionaire, overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump regime, gifted PM Modi with what appears to be a heatshield tile that flew on SpaceX’s starship test flight 5 in October last year. The relic was engraved with the words: “Starship Flight Test 5. October 13, 2024.”
The hexagonal ceramic heatshield tiles on SpaceX’s Starship are designed to protect the spacecraft from extreme heat encountered during atmospheric re-entry as it makes its way back to Earth.
On October 13, 2024, SpaceX launched its Starship vehicle from South Texas. This mission is particularly notable for successfully capturing its Super Heavy booster at the launch site, marking a significant achievement in aerospace technology.
In return, PM Modi gifted Musk’s children three Indian classic books – “The Crescent Moon” by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, The Great RK Narayan Collection and Pandit Vishnu Sharma’s Panchatantra.
Images shared by the Prime Minister showed Musk’s children reading these books.
It was also a delight to meet Mr. @elonmusk‘s family and to talk about a wide range of subjects! pic.twitter.com/0WTEqBaVpT
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 13, 2025
“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 talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.”, the PM wrote in a post on X.
Had a very good meeting with @elonmusk in Washington DC. We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.’ pic.twitter.com/7xNEqnxERZ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 13, 2025
“It was also a delight to meet Mr Elon Musk’s family and to talk about a wide range of subjects,” he added.
The two discussed several key topics of space, mobility, technology and innovation. The two had previously met in 2015 when the PM visited the Tesla facility in San Jose and was given a personal tour by the Tesla CEO.
