SpaceX issued a warning to the United States that it would stop supporting the Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, which has been a “key component of critical infrastructure” and an essential means of communication for the country’s armed forces during its conflict with Russia.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly informed the Pentagon in a letter last month that it could no longer afford to support the Starlink service, according to papers obtained by CNN.
The letter also asked the Pentagon to take over funding for Starlink use by the Ukrainian military and administration. It requested tens of millions of dollars in monthly contributions from the US military.
Elon Musk responds.
Elon Musk tweeted in response to the reports, saying, “SpaceX is not looking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals with data demand up to 100X more than ordinary families. This is not rational.
According to the report, SpaceX estimated that the services will cost more than $120 million for the remainder of the year and as much as $400 million for the next 12 months.
According to reports, SpaceX’s head of government sales reportedly wrote to the Pentagon in September, “We are not in a position to continue contribute terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indeterminate period of time.”
The Ukraine has received close to 20,000 Starlink satellites as donations. The “operation has cost SpaceX $80 million and likely approach $100 million by the end of the year,” Musk wrote in a tweet on Friday.
All of the questioned documents revealed a demand for about 8,000 additional Starlink terminals. Commander Valerii Zaluzhniy, the commanding general of the Ukrainian military, allegedly made the request to Musk in July.
“Here, SpaceX must make some extremely challenging choices. I don’t believe they have the resources to fulfil General Zaluzhniy’s request for any extra terminals or services “In response, a consultant for SpaceX wrote.
Mykhailo Fedorov, the deputy premier of Ukraine, recently claimed in a tweet that SpaceX’s Starlink services had helped rebuild the country’s crucial communications and energy infrastructure.
“The electricity and communications infrastructure of (Ukraine) was assaulted by almost 100 cruise missiles. But using Starlink, we were able to quickly reestablish connectivity in crucial places “Tweeted Fedorov
