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American billionaire Elon Musk tweet On Saturday, SpaceX will continue to fund Starlink internet service in war-torn Ukraine, apparently changing course after SpaceX asked the U.S. military to take over.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service has been an important source of communications for the country’s military during the war with Russia, but as CNN exclusively reported earlier this week, SpaceX warned the Pentagon that it could be snared unless the U.S. military gets involved. Stop funding services in Ukraine in the tens of millions of dollars a month, according to documents obtained by CNN.
The letter also asks the Pentagon to take over funding for the Ukrainian government and military to use Starlink, which SpaceX claims will cost more than $120 million for the rest of the year and could cost nearly $400 million over the next 12 months.The report sparked a flood of tweets from two social media users defense and criticized the move.
On Saturday, a tweet from Musk’s verified account said, “Hell…even though Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions of taxpayer dollars, we will continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free. ”
Since first arriving in Ukraine last spring, Musk’s SpaceX-built Starlink satellite internet terminal has allowed the Ukrainian military to fight and stay connected despite the disruption of cell phones and internet networks in the war with Russia.
A Pentagon spokesman said Friday that it has been in communication with SpaceX, but did not say whether it was related to funding for Starlink’s satellite communications products.
Responding to a follower who replied to Musk on Saturday tweet“No good deeds are punished,” Musk said. “Even so, we should do good deeds.”
In a series of tweets on Friday, Musk doubled down on SpaceX’s demands to the Pentagon.
“SpaceX is not claiming to recover past costs, but also cannot indefinitely fund the existing system *and* send thousands of terminals that use up to 100 times the data usage of the average household. This is unreasonable,” read one postal From Musk’s verified account.
He also said he followed the advice of Ukrainian diplomats who responded to Musk’s Ukraine peace plan earlier this month in asking the Pentagon to pay the bill for Ukraine’s Starlink, and the letter was then sent to the Pentagon, which: F** * leave. ”
Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Andrei Melnik said earlier this month in response to Musk’s claims of Russia’s peace plan for the Ukraine war: “Fuck my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk.”
SpaceX’s proposal to stop funding Starlink also comes amid growing Ukrainian concerns over Musk’s allegiance. Musk recently tweeted about a controversial peace plan that would see Ukraine renounce Crimea and take control of eastern Luhansk and Donetsk.
After Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky raised the question of who Musk supports answered He’s still very supportive[s] Ukraine” but worried about “massive escalation”.
Zelensky’s adviser, Ukrainian official Mykhailo Podolyak, appeared to be reaching out. tweet Posted on Friday, it wrote, “Tell me the truth. Like it or not, @elonmusk helped us through the most critical moments of war.”
“Businesses have the right to set their own strategies,” Podoljak tweeted. “(We) will find a solution to keep #Starlink working. We expect the company to provide a stable connection until negotiations are concluded.”