Elon Musk's SpaceX company has been directly investing in Chinese investors, according to a Delaware lawsuit. This is the first time that direct Chinese involvement in a private company that fulfills important US military orders has been officially confirmed, ProPublica reports.
Investor Iqbaljit Kalon, who is close to SpaceX management and is known as a middleman for wealthy clients, admitted under oath that Chinese investors were "directly on the capitalization table" of the company, that is, among the shareholders. His testimony was revealed in previously classified documents made public after a court decision at the initiative of journalists.
Until now, it was believed that investments from China came to SpaceX only indirectly — through intermediary funds. Now it has become known about direct investments, which indicates closer ties of the company with Chinese capital. At the same time, the full ownership structure of SpaceX remains secret.
SpaceX is a key contractor for the U.S. government — it builds satellites for the Pentagon, launches missions for NASA, and powers the Starlink internet service used by U.S. embassies. That makes foreign investment, particularly from China, a major national security concern.
Experts warn that even limited access by foreign investors to non-public SpaceX information, such as contract or supplier data, could pose a serious threat to the U.S. China is known to systematically use investments in strategic industries to gain intelligence.
The court documents mention investors from China, Qatar, Malaysia, Russia and other countries, but their names are not disclosed. In particular, in 2021, Kahlon personally raised funds in China to buy a stake in SpaceX, promising investors access to internal updates and even a meeting with the company's CFO. One Shanghai-based company transferred $50 million, but the deal was canceled after publicity.
SpaceX and Kahlon declined to comment. The US Congress has already called the situation a "potential cover-up" and called for greater transparency, given SpaceX's role in Defense Department and NASA projects.