Starlink in Ukraine: Elon Musk says SpaceX not seeking Pentagon funding
The world’s richest person Elon Musk has said SpaceX will continue to fund Starlink internet services in war-torn Ukraine despite losing money.
Musk also clarified on Tuesday (October 18) that Starlink satellite service has not received any funding from the US Department of Defense (DoD). This came after there was a report which claimed that the Pentagon is considering paying for the service in Ukraine.
The Pentagon is considering paying for the Starlink satellite network — which has been a lifeline for Ukraine — from a fund that has been used to supply weapons and equipment over the long term, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in the deliberations, a Politico report said on Monday.
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Reacting to this report, Musk said he had already withdrawn the request for funding from the Pentagon.
“SpaceX has already withdrawn its request for funding,” he tweeted.
SpaceX has already withdrawn its request for funding
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 17, 2022
SpaceX made a request to the Pentagon in September saying they were no longer able to donate the critical Starlink terminals or support the expensive accompanying service “for an indefinite period of time.” SpaceX asked the Pentagon to start paying for the service for the current terminals operated by the Ukrainian government as well as fund almost 8,000 new terminals and service for Ukraine’s military and intelligence services, a CNN report had said.
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“SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households. This is unreasonable,” Musk tweeted on October 14.
SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households. This is unreasonable.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022
Earlier, on his Twitter account, Musk had posted that SpaceX would keep funding the Ukraine government for free.
“The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free,” Musk tweeted.
The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022
According to reports, SpaceX is losing approximately $20 million a month.
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