Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX no longer wants to pay for Starlink in Ukraine and is asking the Pentagon to shoulder the cost of the company’s satellite-based internet service.
In a letter to the Department of Defense last month, whose existence was revealed today (Oct. 14) by CNN, SpaceX requested the Pentagon take over funding for Ukraine’s government and military use of Starlink, a critical means of communication during the war as Russia destroys Ukraine’s telecom infrastructure.
Musk recently revealed SpaceX has spent more than $80 million on operating Starlink in Ukraine since March. In last month’s letter to the Pentagon, SpaceX claimed it would cost close to $400 million to keep the service for the next 12 months.
Although it’s a tiny amount compared with SpaceX’s $127 billion valuation, SpaceX “cannot fund the existing system indefinitely,” Musk tweeted today. He said the average data usage from Starlink terminals in Ukraine is about 100 times greater than typical households elsewhere, which makes their operation expensive.
SpaceX has donated more than 20,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine since the war started.
