Spacex CEO Elon Musk said that even though Starlink is losing money, the company will “continue to fund” the Ukrainian government at no cost, noting that it has cost Spacex $80 million to provide Internet terminals and services to Ukraine. He noted that it has cost Spacex $80 million so far to provide Internet terminals and services to Ukraine. Musk stressed, “We also need to protect ourselves from cyber attacks and jamming, which is becoming increasingly difficult.”
We’ll keep funding Ukraine for free, Says Musk
Spacex has been sending Starlink Internet terminals and providing services to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war. At the request of the Ukrainian government, Spacex began supplying Starlink Internet terminals to the country in February.
However, Spacex’s director of government sales sent a letter to the Pentagon in Septemberreportedly stating that the company was “not in a position to donate more terminals to Ukraine or fund existing terminals indefinitely.” The Pentagon reportedly confirmed that it had received a letter from Spacex regarding funding for Starlink satellite communications products in Ukraine.
Musktweeted on October 7explaining that only a “small portion” of the Ukrainian Starlink terminals and services had been paid for. The head of Spacex revealed.
The operation cost Spacex $80 million&and will exceed $100 million by the end of the year.
In response to a Twitter question about how much Spacex spends “to maintain Starlink in Ukraine,” Maskdetailed: “In addition to the terminals, we create, launch, and maintain satellites&supplement&ground stations&gate must be paid to the telephone company for access to the Internet via a&gateway. They also need protection against cyber-attacks and jamming, which is becoming increasingly difficult. The burn is approaching ~$20 million/month.”
Musk also, in an October 9 tweet, said, “There are ~25k terminals in Ukraine, each terminal can be used for an internet uplink to a cell phone tower, so potentially thousands can be served by one terminal.” He shared.
Regarding Spacex’s inability to continue to provide free products and services to Ukraine, Twitter user and Tesla investor Sawyer Merrittopined: “Spacex’s request is reasonable. SpaceX’s request is reasonable. We should not expect private companies to continue to provide funding for free forever. Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop, etc. work for free, Spacex has generously donated what they did and will happily continue to manufacture the terminals with government money.”
However, some people criticized Musk over the company’s letter to the Pentagon. Musk then tweetedSaturday that “Hell … even if Starlink is still in the red&other companies are getting billions in taxpayer money, we will continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free.”
It was not immediately clear whether the Tesla CEO was being sarcastic or whether SpaceX intends to continue providing free products and services to Ukraine. In response to a tweet about the move, Musk stated, ” We still have good deeds to do.”
Mr. Maskexplained on October 14 that there is a “big difference” between peace and frontline communications.” Starlink is the only communications system still functioning on the battlefield; the others (are) all dead. Russia is actively trying to kill Starlink. As a result, Spacex is devoting enormous resources to its defense. Still, Starlink could die,” he warned. Spacex bossdescribedin a follow-up tweet.” Internet fiber, phone lines, cell towers {89} and other space communications in the war zone have been destroyed. The only thing left is Starlink. For now.”
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation,tweeted on October 14: “Without a doubt, Elon Musk is one of the top private donors in the world supporting Ukraine. Starlink is an essential component of critical infrastructure.” He alsosharedon October 12:
more than 100 cruise missiles struck the energy and communications infrastructure. However, thanks to Starlink, we were able to quickly restore connectivity in critical areas. Starlink will continue to be an integral part of our critical infrastructure.
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
