The Pentagon is reportedly considering funding SpaceX's Starlink network in Ukraine. However, Elon Musk has already withdrawn his request after telling the U.S. Defense Department that his company can no longer give it to Kyiv for free.
that it was “unreasonable” for his company to give it to Kyiv for free.
What Happened: The Pentagon will most likely fund Starlink from the U.S. Department of Defense Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which has been designed to support the war-torn nation in its fight against Russia, according to Politico sources.
SpaceX began supplying Starlink terminals to Ukraine in February, shortly after Russia invaded the country.
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This came after Musk said last week that SpaceX could not indefinitely fund the high-speed satellite internet in Ukraine because of its enormous cost.
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He said on Twitter that SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely and send several thousand more terminals with data usage up to 100 times greater than typical households.
However, after facing a massive backlash on social media, Musk reversed his stance, saying that his company would continue to fund the operation of the Starlink internet service in Ukraine for free. “The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free,” he said.
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