Washington DC - Senate Democrats are demanding that the Pentagon conduct a review of Elon Musk's SpaceX aerospace company amid reports that the company is partly owned by Chinese investors.

"These ties could pose a national security threat, potentially jeopardizing key military, intelligence, and civilian infrastructure," wrote Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim in a Thursday letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The two Democrats insisted that investments into SpaceX by China "are at odds with the administration’s policies on foreign investment from countries of concern in strategic industries."

They also pointed out that the Trump administration's investment policy designates China as a "foreign adversary" that should not be given access to advanced technologies, IP, and strategic industries critical to US security interests.

Concerns around Chinese investors' access to Starlink systems raised particular concern because "senior Chinese defense scientists have urged their leaders to 'vigorously develop countermeasures' to neutralize SpaceX's Starlink satellite service."

Starlink is widely used by the Department of Defense, as well as many of the US' allies, including Ukraine.

The letter came in response to a ProPublica report published last March, which alleged that SpaceX has circumvented investment controls by allowing Chinese investors to buy stakes through offshore accounts.

Experts speaking to ProPublica said that SpaceX's decision to allow such investments is both unusual and troubling, largely because of the company's position as a major defense contractor.

Warren and Kim requested that Hegseth respond to a list of eleven questions by February 18 and provide an assessment of the potential security risk.

"The mere proposition that an adversary nation such as China could have leverage and influence over a company such as SpaceX, one that underpins our national security apparatus, is an unacceptable risk," they wrote.