Musk’s SpaceX says it can no longer pay for critical satellite services in Ukraine, asks Pentagon to pick up the tab

[Spartan]

Since they first started arriving in Ukraine last spring, the Starlink satellite internet terminals made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX have been a vital source of communication for Ukraine’s military, allowing it to fight and stay connected even as cellular phone and internet networks have been destroyed in its war with Russia.

So far roughly 20,000 Starlink satellite units have been donated to Ukraine, with Musk tweeting on Friday the “operation has cost SpaceX $80 million and will exceed $100 million by the end of the year.”

But those charitable contributions could be coming to an end, as SpaceX has warned the Pentagon that it may stop funding the service in Ukraine unless the US military kicks in tens of millions of dollars per month.

Documents obtained by CNN show that last month Musk’s SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon saying it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service as it has. The letter also requested that the Pentagon take over funding for Ukraine’s government and military use of Starlink, which SpaceX claims would cost more than $120 million for the rest of the year and could cost close to $400 million for the next 12 months.

“We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time,” SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote to the Pentagon in the September letter. 

Among the SpaceX documents sent to the Pentagon and seen by CNN is a previously unreported direct request made to Musk in July by the Ukrainian military’s commanding general, General Valerii Zaluzhniy, for almost 8,000 more Starlink terminals.

In a separate cover letter to the Pentagon, an outside consultant working for SpaceX wrote, “SpaceX faces terribly difficult decisions here. I do not think they have the financial ability to provide any additional terminals or service as requested by General Zaluzhniy.” 

The documents, which have not been previously reported, provide a rare breakdown of SpaceX’s own internal numbers on Starlink, detailing the costs and payments associated with the thousands of terminals in Ukraine. They also shed new light on behind-the-scenes negotiations that have provided millions of dollars in communications hardware and services to Ukraine at little cost to Kyiv. 

Reports of outages

The letters come amid recent reports of wide-ranging Starlink outages as Ukrainian troops attempt to retake ground occupied by Russia in the eastern and southern parts of the country. 

Sources familiar with the outages said they suddenly affected the entire frontline as it stood on September 30. “That has affected every effort of the Ukrainians to push past that front,” said one person familiar with the outages who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. “Starlink is the main way units on the battlefield have to communicate.” 

 

This photograph taken on September 25 shows an antenna of the Starlink satellite-based broadband system donated by US tech billionaire Elon Musk in Izyum, Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

There was no warning to Ukrainian forces, a second person said, adding that now when Ukraine liberates an area a request has to be made for Starlink services to be turned on. 

The Financial Times first reported the outages which resulted in a “catastrophic” loss of communication, a senior Ukrainian official said. In a tweet responding to the article, Musk didn’t dispute the outage, saying that what is happening on the battlefield is classified.

SpaceX’s suggestion it will stop funding Starlink also comes amid rising concern in Ukraine over Musk’s allegiance. Musk recently tweeted a controversial peace plan that would have Ukraine give up Crimea and control over the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions. 

After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the question of who Musk sides with, he responded that he “still very much support[s] Ukraine” but fears “massive escalation.”

Musk also argued privately last month that Ukraine doesn’t want peace negotiations right now and that if they went along with his plan, “Russia would accept those terms,” according to a person who heard them. 

“Ukraine knows that its current government and wartime efforts are totally dependent on Starlink,” the person familiar with the discussions said. “The decision to keep Starlink running or not rests entirely in the hands of one man. That’s Elon Musk. He hasn’t been elected, no one decided to give him that power. He has it because of the technology and the company he built.”

On Tuesday Musk denied a report he has spoken to Putin directly about Ukraine. On Thursday, when a Ukrainian minister tweeted that Starlink is essential to Ukraine’s infrastructure, Musk replied: “You’re most welcome. Glad to support Ukraine.” 

“The gall to look like heroes”

More than seven months into the war, it’s hard to overstate the impact Starlink has had in Ukraine. The government in Kyiv, Ukrainian troops as well and NGOs and civilians have relied on the nimble, compact and easy-to-use units created by SpaceX. It’s not only used for voice and electronic communication but to help fly drones and send back video to correct artillery fire.

[Spartan]

Starlink testing ground in real time completed

ana maata successfully 

now its turn to print money

donation anta free testing nataka

 

[Anta Assamey]

4 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Starlink testing ground in real time completed

ana maata successfully 

now its turn to print money

donation anta free testing nataka

Intelligent fellow kada...

[Spartan]

1 hour ago, Anta Assamey said:

Intelligent fellow kada...

ante ga craze to dabbu ela sampadinchalo adi deggara nerchukovali

[kevinUsa]

1 hour ago, Spartan said:

Starlink testing ground in real time completed

ana maata successfully 

now its turn to print money

donation anta free testing nataka

 

Danni capitalism antaru telvada??

Privatize the profit

Socialize the losses 

 

[kittaya]

1 hour ago, Spartan said:

Starlink testing ground in real time completed

ana maata successfully 

now its turn to print money

donation anta free testing nataka

 

USA does the same thing to test missiles they developed ... .. 

 

Everybody nataks in the world

 

[Variety_Pullayya]

end of the day , profits chupinchakapothe ....andaru kalisi company ni munchestharu. 

[veerigadu]

I think he has a point.

He has no reason to render free services to Ukraine. let him charge for it 

[VictoryTDP]

7 minutes ago, veerigadu said:

I think he has a point.

He has no reason to render free services to Ukraine. let him charge for it 

Final product ready ayyindi anna andhuke backing out 

[Thokkalee]

2 hours ago, Spartan said:

Starlink testing ground in real time completed

ana maata successfully 

now its turn to print money

donation anta free testing nataka

Why does he have to spend his money to support one country in a long war.. this war will go on for years.. he in fact helped to turn around the war by providing communications support with his Starlink modules.. 

[Pavanonline]

2 hours ago, Spartan said:

Starlink testing ground in real time completed

ana maata successfully 

now its turn to print money

donation anta free testing nataka

 

yeah well played, now probably will get a govt contract too as long as war goes on

[Pandubabu]

2 hours ago, Spartan said:

Starlink testing ground in real time completed

ana maata successfully 

now its turn to print money

donation anta free testing nataka

 

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