Hope grows for Korean firms to join supply chains of Elon Musk empire

A bust of Elon Musk on the day of SpaceX's initial public offering, in Brownsville, Texas, June 12. Reuters-Yonhap

As Elon Musk's business empire continues to expand, expectations are rising for Korean firms to deepen their presence in supply chains spanning semiconductors, chipmaking equipment and telecommunications.

According to industry officials, HPSP, a domestic semiconductor equipment maker, has recently received purchase orders for its High-Pressure Hydrogen Annealing (HPA) pilot equipment for Tesla's Terafab.

HPA is a front-end process that uses highly compressed hydrogen gas to heat-treat semiconductor wafers, helping reduce leakage currents and improve power efficiency. The technology has been widely used in foundry manufacturing and is increasingly being adopted for advanced memory chips. HPSP is the leading player in the global HPA market.

Terafab is a $119 billion semiconductor project in Texas aimed at establishing a semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI)chip manufacturing ecosystem involving Tesla, SpaceX and Intel. The facility is expected to supply chips needed for computing infrastructure supporting SpaceX operations, Tesla's autonomous driving and robotics technologies and xAI data centers.

Industry officials expect HPSP's pilot equipment supply may lead to full-scale orders, as the company has long been supplying equipment for Intel, and Terafab is known to follow Intel's manufacturing model.

SpaceX leadership members and guests celebrate on a balcony at the Nasdaq MarketSite on the day of SpaceX's initial public offering in New York City, June 12. Reuters-Yonhap

Hanmi Semiconductor is also expected to join Terafab’s supply chain. The chip packaging equipment firm has recently announced it will invest 50 billion won into SpaceX as part of its efforts to supply its equipment to Terafeb.

The company said it decided to invest in SpaceX as the AI industry expands into aerospace, satellite communications and data businesses. "We will reinvest the expected returns into our core semiconductor equipment business to support sustainable growth and enhance both corporate value and shareholder value," it said.

Other Korean firms are also deepening ties with Musk's businesses. Hyosung Heavy Industries has secured transformer contracts for xAI's data centers, while Doosan Enerbility has signed gas turbine supply deals. Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution are working with Tesla on batteries for energy storage systems. Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Innotek are also pursuing cooperation with Tesla on camera modules for humanoid robots.

Market attention is now turning to potential cooperation between LG Electronics and SpaceX.

Sources said SpaceX officials visited LG Electronics' headquarters in Seoul earlier this week, fueling speculation that the two companies could cooperate in the field of satellite communications.

LG Electronics declined to confirm the visit, but an LG Group official told Yonhap Infomax that "there are discussions taking place between the companies." Industry officials expect the two sides could cooperate on space-related components and communications technologies.

Rumors are also growing on a collaboration between SK Group and Musk’s companies. Digital Daily reported that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won will meet Musk in the U.S. later this month. SK Group refused to confirm this.