Techie Soham Rai aka Zikiguy makes a record, hoists national flag at near space on Republic Day

No rockets, just a young man's enthusiasm for technology, made him hoist the tricolour in near space at one lakh feet above sea level with Zepto.

Every year, Republic Day provides people with an opportunity to display their nationalism in ways that connect with their fellow patriots. This year, a Karnataka-based tech enthusiast collaborated with the quick-commerce platform Zepto, aiming to make the tricolour touch the near stars. Known for his out-of-the-box projects, Soham M Rai aka Zikiguy, is a tech content creator who changes lives with every new invention. From drones that can save lives during floods, building an app that can increase waiters' incomes, to making AI useful for the blind, his approach to technology is to solve problems one innovation at a time. 

It's this same commitment towards his country that set him towards hoisting our national flag in the stratosphere, setting a benchmark for the world. Working in collaboration with Zepto, he created a payload that hosts our national flag with a tracking system, cameras and a recovery mechanism. On 26th January, with the paylod attached to a high-altitude hydrogen balloon, they created histroy. He and his team launched the payload, which successfully unfurled the national flag at the mindblowing height of one lakh feet above the sea level. Zepto revealed that they help in not just promoting their monumental task over social media platforms but also financially backing them to make sure this goal comes true.

Considering how this was one challenging task to achieve, Soham decided to share a two-part video on his page, taking viewers behind the scenes and giving first-hand experience of how they managed to pull it off. The videos highlight the issues and hardships they faced and how they overcame them with a whole lot of motivation and support. With all necessary permissions they launched their payload and captured the tricolour hoisting, giving “Janda Uccha Rahe Hamara” a new meaning.

Also Read: When alignment beats algorithms in brand-creator partnerships!

Check the videos here:

View this post on Instagram

View this post on Instagram

Considering how challenging this was, it had us wondering what inspired him to take on this journey in the first place. Turns out, it was one single thought that motivated him: What’s the next experiment that actually scares us a little?

Space and exploration have always been his dream area, and sending a weather balloon felt like the most realistic first step into that world. He recalled that his first attempt, around Independence Day 2024, kept getting delayed, either because brands were unsure about a concept this crazy or because permissions were delayed. By December 2025, things finally aligned for a Republic Day launch. Given that it was something they had never attempted before, especially with a tight budget and very little time, they had to figure everything out from scratch. The launch day was the most stressful. "After it took off, all we could think was, what if the flag doesn’t unfurl, what if the tracker fails, what if we lose the payload and all the footage. Every small system was built and tested by us, so there was real risk." However, Soham and the team were able to pull it off against all odds, giving them the confidence that they can pull something bigger.

The technicalities of the entire mission is one thing but the impact it had on brand-creator collaborations was immense. It broke boundaries in sense of collabaration, ambition and storytelling. Soham talked about how this project proved that brand work doesn’t have to shrink ideas; it can actually scale them. "My whole goal with Zikiguy has been to take ideas people only talk about and make them real. This was the biggest thing we’ve ever done, and it only happened because Zepto and Purple Mango Media didn’t just approve a concept; they trusted us as builders to pull it off. Usually, brands and agencies play it safe, especially when there’s real technical risk involved. Here, they leaned into the ambition instead of watering it down." It shifted how Soham saw storytelling in brand collaborations. "It doesn’t have to feel like an ad around a moment; the brand can become part of the moment itself." 

Republic Day is emotional and national, and instead of doing something symbolic on the surface, they decided to build something that matched the scale of the occasion. "For me, it’s proof that creators, especially builders and experimenters, don’t have to limit their vision to what’s been done before. With the right partners, we can execute ideas that feel closer to missions than campaigns."

For more such content, follow us on @socialketchup