Elon Musk said Friday that SpaceX would not be able to pay for Starlink satellite internet in Ukraine indefinitely, while the US military confirmed it was communicating with the billionaire’s company about funding for the key network, IgbereTV reports
The discussions come as Musk has been embroiled in public spats with Ukrainian leaders who were angered by his controversial plan for de-escalating the conflict, which included acknowledging Russian sovereignty over Crimea.
Starlink, a constellation of more than 3,000 small satellites in low Earth orbit, has been vital to Ukraine’s communications as it fights against Russia’s invasion, with SpaceX donating some 25,000 ground terminals, according to an updated figure given by Musk last week.
In a series of tweets, the world’s richest man appeared to confirm a report by CNN saying he had written to the Pentagon warning that his financial contributions would come to an end, and that the military would need to foot the bill.
“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,” he tweeted.
“This is unreasonable.”
Musk said the operation has already cost SpaceX $80 million and is projected to exceed $100 million by the end of the year.
But CNN said SpaceX figures shared with the Pentagon show about 85 percent of the first 20,000 terminals in Ukraine were paid at least in part by countries such as the United States, Poland, or other entities, which also paid for about 30 percent of internet connectivity.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Friday that the US Department of Defense is in contact with Musk about the funding issue.
“We can confirm the department received correspondence from SpaceX about the funding of… their satellite communications product in Ukraine. We remain in communication with SpaceX about this and other topics,” Singh said in a statement
