For a brief moment it seemed like Elon Musk had a reasonable request for continuing to provide Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine, so of course, he ruined it all by tweeting. According to a new report from CNN, SpaceX informed the Pentagon in September that it can no longer afford to provide Starlink access to the country that’s still warding off a Russian invasion. Instead, SpaceX would appreciate it if the defense department started footing the bill.
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.
In Musk’s defense, it’s not unreasonable to expect the Pentagon to open its coffer to pay for the satellite tech. After the news broke, Musk made a good point that companies like Lockheed Martin or Boeing aren’t just giving away free weapons. While replying to tweets about shutting off Starlink access, Musk revealed that it’s costing SpaceX roughly $20 million a month.
In addition to terminals, we have to create, launch, maintain & replenish satellites & ground stations & pay telcos for access to Internet via gateways.
We’ve also had to defend against cyberattacks & jamming, which are getting harder.
Burn is approaching ~$20M/month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022
However, it didn’t take long for the trolling to start as Musk started criticizing Democratic politicians and Robert Reich for not praising him for the generous donation:
Maybe the
got their
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022
And shortly after, Musk couldn’t help himself by joking that he’s pulling Starlink access because an Ukrainian ambassador told Musk to “f*ck off” after catching wind of his “peace plan” that was suspiciously deferential to Russia:
We’re just following his recommendation
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2022
Granted, Musk’s request occurred in September before his “peace plan” tweet. However, the news of him threatening to shut off the service arrives after allegations that Musk has been in contact with Putin. The two have denied speaking to each other ahead of Musk tweeting out his plan that gives Putin exactly what he wants, but political scientist Ian Bremmer stands by his reporting that Putin coordinated with the SpaceX CEO. The same SpaceX CEO who’s no longer open to helping the Ukraine.
None of it looks great, and it doesn’t help that Musk is being a clown on Twitter about the situation.
(Via CNN)