Elon Musk’s SpaceX took money from China despite US military ties

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Turns out Elon Musk’s rocket empire might have more than just satellites orbiting the Earth. There may also be a few Chinese investors floating in its financial atmosphere. 

Newly unsealed testimony suggests SpaceX, the US military’s go-to space launch contractor, quietly accepted money from Chinese investors, raising red flags about national security and foreign influence.

According to a ProPublica report, major SpaceX investor Iqbaljit Kahlon said under oath in a 2024 deposition that “they obviously have Chinese investors, to be honest.” 

Some of those investors, he noted, are even listed as direct shareholders, not exactly ideal optics for a company that launches spy satellites for the Pentagon.

This revelation builds on earlier ProPublica reporting from March, which found that SpaceX allegedly allowed Chinese investors to buy stakes through offshore secrecy hubs like the Cayman Islands, effectively burying the trail. 

The company even reportedly canceled a $50 million deal with a Chinese firm back in 2021 when details started leaking.

That prompted Democrats to fire off a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and NASA, warning that SpaceX’s opaque ownership “raises serious questions” given its deep integration with the US military. 

SpaceX currently dominates government launch contracts, scooping up seven major Space Force and National Reconnaissance Office missions worth nearly $846 million this year alone.

In other words, this isn’t just any startup taking some mystery money. This is the company handling America’s most sensitive satellite payloads.

To make matters more complicated, Musk himself has long walked a diplomatic tightrope with Beijing. 

Tesla depends heavily on China for production and sales, and Musk has occasionally voiced a pro-China perspective that doesn’t always sit well in Washington.

Now, as the Trump administration ramps up its trade war and tech restrictions against China, Musk’s cozy entanglements are drawing fresh scrutiny. One congresswoman even called him China’s “top puppet.”

Between rockets, Teslas, and geopolitics, it seems Musk’s next big launch may be straight into a congressional hearing.

Should a company with deep US military contracts like SpaceX be allowed to accept investment from Chinese sources, even through offshore channels? Is Elon Musk’s financial dependence on China a national security risk, or are concerns about foreign investment in private space companies overblown? Let’s chat below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.