satellite internet
The falling Starlink hero: Elon Musk calls on US govt to foot Ukraine’s bill
The Tesla boss and billionaire Elon Musk is increasingly coming under criticism.
© John Angelillo / Imago Images
Shortly after the Russian invasion began, Elon Musk secured a place among the good guys. With his Starlink satellite Internet service, he quickly provided Ukraine with uncensored Internet free of charge. Now the US government should pay for the costs.
Elon Musk has been celebrated for months for his quick activation of Starlink and an equally quick delivery of the required receiving stations for the satellite Internet. But the facade is beginning to crumble. ‘Cause like”CNN” reported, his company SpaceX warned the US Department of Defense that the free supply of uncensored Internet from space to Ukraine could soon come to an end – if the government does not foot the bill.
$400 million per year
It is said that SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon last month that describes the situation as follows: The company will soon be unable to provide satellite Internet to Ukraine unless the government agrees to use it for military purposes and to pay for the accesses of the Ukrainian government. For the rest of the year, the cost was $120 million, with 2023 costing another $400 million, they say.
However, it seems that SpaceX wants to recover a large part of the costs incurred in supplying Ukraine with Starlink. At the beginning of October, when reports of Starlink outages at the front line circulated, Elon Musk took to Twitter and wrote about one Financial Times article: “This article incorrectly claims that the Starlink terminals and services have already been paid for, although this is only the case for a small part. This operation has cost SpaceX $80 million and will exceed $100 million by the end of the year .”
The demanded 120 million US dollars in the letter to the Pentagon does not only seem to include the sums that will be incurred in the future, but also services that have already been “donated” – the two figures can hardly be interpreted otherwise.
SpaceX is desperate
In the letters to the US government, SpaceX paints a desperate picture of the internal situation. “We are unable to donate more terminals to Ukraine or fund the existing terminals indefinitely,” SpaceX’s director of government sales wrote in the September letter to the Pentagon. Another letter from one of the company’s external advisors said: “SpaceX faces very difficult decisions here. I do not believe that they are financially able to provide additional terminals or services as requested by General Zalushny.”
In fact, as recently as July, the general was demanding thousands of terminals from SpaceX, as mobile and fast internet had turned out to be – and still is – an important tool in defense against the Russian invaders. It remains questionable, however, whether the costs for the company have long since been cushioned. Because at the end of March it was said that the money for the countless deliveries came from donations from Poland, France and “private sources” and that the US government had paid for the immense transport costs.
Money shortages or business-damaging cost pressures could only be pretended reasons for the demands on the government, insiders argue. In fact, the timing of the letters paints a different picture.
Musk strives for “peace” – also for Russia
Although Elon Musk continues to present himself as a supporter of Ukraine on Twitter, the billionaire is overcome by growing fears that the situation in the territories annexed by Russia could lead to an escalation of the war at the international level. Musk may want to pull out of the conflict, as he himself could face repercussions should he choose sides and anger Russia’s allies.
This also fits with a surprising mass of tweets that Musk unleashed in early October. In it he disclosed his “peace plan” for Ukraine, which granted Russia parts of the annexed territories and thus caused criticism from all sides, including a verbal blunder by Ambassador Andriy Melnyk and a vote by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to US political scientist Ian Bremmer, the “plan” was preceded by a phone call with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin – Musk denied this.
For the report that SpaceX now apparently wants to hand over funding and responsibility, boss Elon Musk is again receiving a lot of criticism on social networks. So far, the billionaire has not commented. Just two days ago, Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked Musk after Starlink played a key role in restoring the internet in bombed areas of Ukraine. Musk replied: “No problem, you’re welcome. I’m happy to be able to support Ukraine.”