Elon Musk stated that his company SpaceX cannot fund the Starlink internet service in Ukraine “indefinitely” nor send several thousand more terminals to the country and has requested the Pentagon to get involved in donations.
“SpaceX is not seeking reimbursement for past expenses, but it also cannot indefinitely fund the existing system nor send several thousand more terminals that have up to 100 times the data capacity of typical households. That is unreasonable,” Musk wrote on Twitter.
Musk activated the Starlink service in Ukraine at the end of February after internet services in the country were disrupted due to the Russian invasion. SpaceX has since donated thousands of terminals.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said this week that Starlink services have helped restore energy and communication infrastructure in critical areas after more than 100 Russian cruise missile attacks.
Spent 80 million dollars
Musk noted that Starlink spends nearly 20 million dollars a month to maintain satellite services in Ukraine. He recently stated that SpaceX has spent about 80 million dollars to enable and support Starlink in Ukraine.
As reported by CNN on Thursday, SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon last month stating that it cannot continue funding the Starlink service in Ukraine and may have to cease that funding unless the U.S. military gets involved in the financing, which amounts to tens of millions of dollars a month.
Reuters reports that SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.
Musk’s announcement regarding his further support for Ukraine through the internet service comes shortly after he sparked outrage among many Ukrainians by suggesting that they cede part of their territory to Russia to end the war.
