Elon Musk said he can no longer pay for Starlink in Ukraine and asks the Pentagon to take over the costs

Ever since they first began arriving in Ukraine in the spring, Starlink satellite Internet terminals, built by Elon Musk's SpaceX, have become a vital source of communication for the Ukrainian military, allowing them to fight and stay connected even when cellular and internet networks have been destroyed. But now Elon Musk says he can no longer pay for satellite services in Ukraine and asks the Pentagon to pay the bill. Writes about it CNN.

Photo: IStock

To date, about 20 Starlink satellites have been transferred to Ukraine. Musk tweeted that "the operation cost SpaceX $000 million and will exceed $80 million by the end of the year."

But SpaceX has warned the Pentagon that it could stop funding the service in Ukraine unless the US military provides tens of millions of dollars a month for this.

Documents obtained by CNN show that SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon in September saying the company could no longer continue to fund the Starlink service as it used to. The letter also asks the Pentagon to take over funding for the Ukrainian government and the military use of Starlink, which SpaceX claims will cost more than $120 million by the end of the year and could cost nearly $400 million over the next 12 months.

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

Among the SpaceX documents sent to the Pentagon is a previously unreported direct request made to Musk in July by General Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander of the Ukrainian military, for nearly 8000 more Starlink terminals.

In a separate cover letter to the Pentagon, an outside consultant working for SpaceX wrote: “SpaceX is facing terribly difficult decisions. I don't think they have the financial ability to provide any additional terminals or services at General Zaluzhny's request."

The previously unreported documents contain a rare breakdown of Starlink's internal numbers, detailing the costs and charges associated with thousands of terminals in Ukraine. They also shed new light on behind-the-scenes negotiations that resulted in millions of dollars worth of communications equipment and services being provided to Ukraine at little cost to Kyiv.

Musk said that by asking the Pentagon to pay the bill for Starlink in Ukraine, he followed the advice of a Ukrainian diplomat who earlier this month responded to Musk's peace plan: "Back off."

On the subject: Will take away work from a person: Elon Musk presented a prototype of a humanoid robot

Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk previously responded to Musk's announced peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine war: "Back off, my very diplomatic response to you @elonmusk."

"We're just following his advice," Musk said in response to a tweet citing a CNN report. Although the letter sent by SpaceX to the Pentagon was sent before the Twitter exchange.

Musk wrote, among other things: “SpaceX does not require reimbursement, but it cannot constantly fund an already operating system and send several thousand more terminals that use 100 times more data than ordinary households. This is silly".

Screenshot: Twitter / @ elonmusk

Outage reports

All of this information comes amid recent reports of widespread disruptions to Starlink as Ukrainian forces attempt to retake Russian-occupied territory in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

Sources familiar with the situation said that on October 12, problems suddenly engulfed the area where the fighting was fought on September 30. By the time of the blackouts, the front line had already moved, but communication problems occurred exactly at the place where the battles were fought on September 30 - the day Musk wrote the letter to the Pentagon.

“It influenced Ukrainian attempts to break through this front,” said one person familiar with the situation. “Starlink is the main way units communicate on the battlefield.”

According to another source, the Ukrainian forces were not alerted.

The Financial Times first reported on the problems that led to the "catastrophic" loss of communication, a senior Ukrainian official said. In a tweet responding to the article, Musk did not dispute the shutdown, stating that what was happening on the battlefield was classified.

SpaceX's proposal to stop funding Starlink comes amid growing concern in Ukraine over Musk's loyalty. Musk recently tweeted a controversial peace plan that would see Ukraine relinquish Crimea and hold referendums in Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories.

When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised the question of which side Musk was on, he replied that he was "still very supportive of Ukraine" but wary of a "massive escalation."

Musk also said in private that Ukraine does not want peace talks and that if the authorities agree to his plan, "Russia will accept these terms."

“Ukraine knows that its current government and wartime efforts are completely dependent on Starlink,” said a person familiar with the discussions. “The decision whether to continue Starlink or not is entirely up to one person. This is Elon Musk. He was not elected, no one decided to give him this power. He has it because of the technology and the company he built."

Musk denied reports that he spoke directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine. When the Ukrainian minister tweeted that Starlink was essential to Ukraine's infrastructure, Musk responded, "You're welcome. Glad to support Ukraine."

"Has the audacity to look like a hero"

After seven months of war, it is difficult to overestimate the role of Starlink for Ukraine. The government in Kyiv, as well as Ukrainian troops, non-governmental organizations and civilians, have bet on spaceX's agile, compact and easy-to-use devices. It is used not only for voice and electronic communication, but also to control drones and send video to correct artillery fire.

It was used at many Ukrainian bases.

“Starlink is absolutely essential because Russian forces have targeted Ukraine’s communications infrastructure,” said Dmitry Alperovich, co-founder of the Silverado Policy Accelerator think tank. “Without Starlink, in many cases, Ukrainians would really have acted blindly.”

While Musk has received widespread recognition and gratitude for responding to requests for Starlink service in Ukraine, in reality, the vast majority of the 20 terminals received full or partial funding from outside sources, including the US, UK and Polish governments, according to a SpaceX letter to the Pentagon. .

SpaceX's demand that the U.S. military pay the bills irritated top Pentagon officials, with one official saying SpaceX "has the audacity to look like a hero" while others are paying so much and is now billing them for tens of millions in month.

About 85% of the 20 terminals in Ukraine were paid for or partly paid for by countries such as the US and Poland or other entities, according to SpaceX data provided to the Pentagon. These organizations also paid for about 000% of the internet connection, which SpaceX says costs $30 a month per unit.

In his July letter to Musk, Ukraine's commander-in-chief, General Zaluzhny, praised Starlink's "exceptional usefulness" and said the military had deployed some 4000 terminals. However, the fighting is destroying about 500 terminals a month, Zaluzhny said, before requesting another 6200 terminals for Ukrainian military and intelligence agencies and 500 a month in the future to make up for losses.

SpaceX said it responded by asking Zaluzhny to forward his request to the US Department of Defense instead.

On Sept. 8, SpaceX's senior sales director wrote to the Pentagon that the costs had become too high and were approaching $100 million. The official asked the Pentagon to accept Ukraine's new request, as well as ongoing maintenance costs totaling $124 million for the remainder of 2022.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

That spending, according to a senior Defense Department official, would amount to nearly $380 million for a full year.

SpaceX declined repeated requests for comment on both the crashes and their recent request to the Pentagon. Musk's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Defense Department spokesman Bob Dichy said: “The Pentagon continues to work to find solutions for the Ukrainian Armed Forces that repel Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression. At the moment we have nothing more to add."

Cost breakdown

Early U.S. support for Starlink came through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which spent about $3 million on equipment and services in Ukraine. The largest supplier of terminals is Poland with nearly 9000 individual terminals.

The US provided nearly 1700 terminals. Other contributors include the UK, NGOs and crowdfunding.

However, the much more expensive part is the permanent connection. SpaceX claims to have paid for about 70% of services provided to Ukraine and claims to have offered the highest tier of $4500 per month for all terminals in Ukraine, although most only signed up for the cheaper service of $500 per month.

The terminals themselves cost $1500 and $2500 for models shipped to Ukraine, the documents say, while consumer models on the Starlink site are much cheaper, with service in Ukraine costing as little as $60 a month.

“You could tell he's trying to get money from the government or he's just trying to make it clear, 'I don't want to be a part of this anymore,'” said a person familiar with Ukraine's requests for Starlink. Given the recent disruptions and Musk's reputation as an unpredictable person, the source noted that the current situation seriously hurts the feelings of Ukrainians.

Recently Musk faces a flurry of criticism on Twitter, including from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when, in a series of tweets, he presented his peace plan to end the war. It included the transfer of Crimea to Russia and repeated referendums (this time overseen by the United Nations) in four regions illegally annexed by Russia.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How much can you earn on paid surveys in the US, and are they worth the time spent

In the US, you can now use the iPhone as an identity card: in which states is it allowed

An unexpected sign of aging: if you use these emojis, then young people will definitely not understand you

Cheap and convenient: what are mini-houses and how much can you buy them

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.