Elon Musk Says He Assured Ukraine SpaceX Won't Turn Off Starlink In Fight Against Putin's Forces Even If US Refused Funding

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Sunday the company wouldn’t turn off Starlink satellite internet service to the country even if the U.S. Department of Defense refused to fund the cost.

What Happened: Musk, who also heads Tesla Inc TSLA, tweeted Sunday that he had informed Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov of his commitment to keeping the service running even before the Pentagon “came back with an answer.”

Before DoD even came back with an answer, I told @FedorovMykhailo that SpaceX would not turn off Starlink even if DoD refused to provide funding

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 24, 2022

Last week, Musk reversed his stance on providing Starlink to Ukraine and said SpaceX would continue to provide the service despite “losing money” while doing so, as the country is engaged in a war against invading forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Why It Matters: While no money had been paid by the Pentagon — other nations, organizations, and individuals did pay for Ukraine’s use of Starlink, Musk said last Tuesday. The entrepreneur’s comments came in a response to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

Ryder had said earlier that the department was in “discussions with SpaceX, as well as other companies” for providing internet to Ukraine. It should be noted that Musk had already withdrawn his request for funding from DoD.

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