Elon Musk says SpaceX will keep paying for Ukraine's access to Starlink

M. Moon@mariella_moonOctober 16, 2022 3:56 AMIn this post: news, Starlink, equipment, Elon Musk, Ukraine, SpaceXMichael Gonzalez via Getty Illustrations or photos

In September, SpaceX sent a letter to the Section of Defense, asking the Pentagon to just take above shelling out for the expenditures associated to Ukraine’s use of its Starlink satellite internet. According to CNN, SpaceX explained to the section that continuing to provide the Ukranian authorities with obtain to Starlink would price tag the firm above $120 million for the rest of 2022 and nearly $400 million above the next 12 months. “We are not in a posture to even more donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the current terminals for an indefinite time period of time,” the business wrote. Now, business chief Elon Musk appears to be to have backtracked on the choice to check with the Pentagon for guidance and wrote on Twitter that SpaceX will “preserve funding [the] Ukraine [government] for totally free” even however Starlink is continue to getting rid of revenue.

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Musk verified what he reported in his tweet to The Economic Moments and additional that SpaceX will keep on funding Ukraine’s accessibility to Starlink’s satellite internet “indefinitely.”

When news about the letter came out, Musk defended his firm’s place and clarified that SpaceX is not inquiring the Pentagon to pay out for preceding costs. He explained that SpaceX just cannot fund the current method in Ukraine and regularly ship 1000’s of new terminals to swap the ones routinely ruined by the Russian forces at the exact same time. Musk extra that the “burn” for keeping the Starlink system operating in the region is $20 million a month, since it truly is had to “protect versus cyberattacks and jamming,” as well.

Before this thirty day period, The Moments described that Ukrainian troops grappled with Starlink outages that led to “catastrophic” decline of communication on the frontline. Musk responded that the piece “falsely statements that Starlink terminals [and] company have been paid for, when only a smaller share have been.” Dependent on SpaceX’s letter that CNN had acquired, however, all-around 85 percent of the 20,000 terminals in Ukraine at the time ended up completely or partly funded by the US, the United kingdom, Poland and other outside the house resources.

The Pentagon confirmed right after understanding of the letter turned community that it really is been talking about payments with SpaceX but that it is also been seeking at possible alternatives. Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, mentioned in a statement: “There is not just SpaceX, there are other entities that we can surely companion with when it will come to giving Ukraine with what they require on the battlefield.”

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