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Elon Musk gifted Prime Minister Narendra Modi a rare piece of space history during their meeting at Washington DC’s Blair House on Friday. Beyond a gesture, the gist was exceptionally rare provided the significance of the engineering marvel associated with it.
The SpaceX CEO presented a hexagonal ceramic tile from the Starship spacecraft’s fifth test flight in October 2024, Inscribed with the words, “Starship Flight Test 5. October 13, 2024,” the gift symbolized cutting-edge engineering and also a nod to Indian-US technological collaboration.
The SpaceX Starship Tile: A Shield Against Extreme Heat
The gifted tile was a part of Starship’s advanced heat shield, designed to protect the spacecraft during fiery re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
Made of durable ceramic, these hexagonal tiles withstand temperatures over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit or 1,370 degrees Celsius.
Unlike older shuttle tiles, SpaceX uses uniform hexagons for easier production and repair. Moreover, the Starship Flight 5 tile features upgraded durability, reportedly being twice as robust as earlier versions, marking a leap in reusable space tech.
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What is the SpaceX Starship?
The Starship is a groundbreaking, fully reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle designed to carry crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Designed by Elon Musk’s Space X, it is the world's largest and most powerful rocket with a payload capacity of up to 150 metric tonnes and a towering height of 123 meters. The rocket’s reusability and capacity drastically cut down the costs of space travel, making ambitious missions like lunar and Mars exploration more achievable.
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Why Was Starship Flight Test 5 A Historic Milestone?
The October 2024 test flight of the Starship test achieved two firsts:
Mid-Air Booster Capture: SpaceX’s ‘Chopstick’ arms caught the 232-foot Super Heavy booster mid-flight, a breakthrough for rocket reuse.
Ocean Splashdown: The Starship safely descended into the Indian Ocean after testing re-entry systems critical for Mars missions.
Musk hailed the flight as a ‘step toward making life multiplanetary’, underscoring its role in NASA’s Artemis moon missions and future Mars colonization.
Future Collaboration
PM Modi, in turn, gifted Musk’s children with Indian literary classics by Rabindranath Tagore, Narayan, and Sharma, blending tech and cultural diplomacy.
The two also held talks on a wide range of subjects, as stated by the PM on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, ahead of Elon Musk eyeing SpaceX Starlink’s entry into India.
