For years, SpaceX has ceased to be simply a rocket company to become one of the most decisive players in the technological and strategic ecosystem of the United States. Its launch capacity, its role in satellite communications and its links with the defense field place it in a position of enormous relevance, especially striking in a company that is still privately owned. In this context, questions about who may be investing in your structure take on a different, much more sensitive meaning. What is at stake is no longer just business, but influence on infrastructures considered critical.
The question. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Senator Andy Kim sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in which they ask for an immediate review of SpaceX in the face of information that points to possible hidden Chinese investments in its capital, according to Reuters. In the United States, this type of communication does not imply that there is an open investigation or a prior conclusion, but it does activate political supervision mechanisms and sets specific response deadlines.
Private equity and side doors. To understand why this political request is so sensitive, it is worth stopping at the very nature of SpaceX. The company is not listed on the stock exchange nor does it have a public stock symbol, as it operates as a privately held company, which limits the financial information available and restricts the purchase of shares to the general public. Its financing comes mainly through private investment rounds and secondary sales between existing investors. This model, perfectly legal, also makes it more complex to track precisely who participates in the capital at any given time.
The money trail. In their letter, the senators cite journalistic information and court testimony that point to a possible indirect route of entry of capital linked to China into SpaceX. These funds would have been channeled through entities registered in jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands or the British Virgin Islands to mask the purchase of shares. The debate does not revolve so much around the legality of these financial vehicles, common in international markets, but rather the difficulty of determining who is really behind the money. The aforementioned news agency adds a precedent in Delaware: a judge supported the decision to remove a Chinese investor from a vehicle created to Buy SpaceX shares and return $50 million.
Additional concern. In their letter, Warren and Kim warn that Chinese involvement in SpaceX could constitute “a threat to national security, potentially putting key military, intelligence and civilian infrastructure at risk.” That scenario would trigger rules known as FOCI, focused on foreign ownership, control or influence in companies with sensitive contracts, and could open the door to a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. For now, everything is in the field of the preventive evaluation requested from the Pentagon.
Who’s in charge when you don’t contribute? The perception that SpaceX belongs entirely to Elon Musk simplifies a more nuanced reality. According to The Guardian, its participation is estimated at around 42%, which leaves room for external shareholders who also assume risks and expectations about the direction of the company. Some of those institutional investors have made SpaceX one of their top holdings. In a private company, where public control mechanisms are fewer, this balance between personal leadership and distributed capital takes on special relevance.
A more integrated empire. The discussion on foreign investment also comes at a time when SpaceX’s technological perimeter is expanding. SpaceX has announced the purchase of xAI, bringing together artificial intelligence, communications and space access capabilities under the same umbrella. This movement, as our colleague Javier Lacort describes, combines critical infrastructure and media speakers, a combination that makes the idea of regulating such a conglomerate complex.
Date on the calendar. The senators have asked the Department of Defense for a response before February 20, a deadline that should provide a first clarification on the scope of the matter and the steps contemplated by the Pentagon. Until then it is not possible to draw conclusions. But the episode leaves a broader signal: when a private company concentrates so much capacity, any doubt about its financing transcends the corporate sphere and enters fully into the strategic sphere.
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