Elon Musk stated SpaceX will continue moneying its Starlink web service in Ukraine on Saturday (Oct. 15), backtracking from the business’s push to ask the Pentagon to bear the expense.
The SpaceX CEO and billionaire composed on Twitter that his spaceflight business will continue to offer Starlink web service at no charge to Ukraine, which is presently battling a Russian intrusion, after stating previously this month that the effort has actually cost SpaceX $80 million(opens in brand-new tab) to date.
” To hell with it … despite the fact that Starlink is still losing cash & & other business are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll simply keep moneying Ukraine govt free of charge,” Musk composed(opens in brand-new tab) on Twitter Saturday.
Related: Elon Musk states SpaceX will not keep moneying Starlink in Ukraine, asks Pentagon to take control of
The hell with it … despite the fact that Starlink is still losing cash & & other business are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll simply keep moneying Ukraine govt for freeOctober 15, 2022
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Musk’s declaration follows a report from CNN(opens in brand-new tab) on a SpaceX letter asking the U.S. military to start covering expenses for Starlink service in Ukraine. CNN reported(opens in brand-new tab) that SpaceX composed the Pentagon in September to state the business might no longer cover Starlink service in Ukraine free of charge, including that it would cost the business to $120 million for the rest of 2022 and an approximated $400 million for the next 12 months.
” We are not in a position to more contribute terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite time period,” the letter specified.
Elon Musk and SpaceX started sending out Starlink terminals that permit access to the business’s satellite web service to Ukraine in late February quickly after Russian soldiers attacked and a public require help from Ukrainian authorities.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell stated at the time that the business had actually been dealing with the job for weeks prior to Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister and the nation’s minister of digital change, put out the call for aid by means of Twitter on Feb.26 By Feb. 28, the very first Starlink terminals were on the ground in Ukraine.
By early April, SpaceX and USAID revealed a public-private collaboration that had actually provided 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine, with over 3,000 of them supplied straight by SpaceX. To date, SpaceX has actually gone about 20,000 terminals to Ukraine, according to(opens in brand-new tab) the New York Times.
SpaceX’s Starlink web service is a space-based broadband network that intends offer international access to high-speed webs utilizing a huge constellation of satellites in orbit. To do that, SpaceX has actually been introducing satellites at a respected rate, with lots of satellites put into orbit at a time throughout near-weekly launches. The service costs $110 monthly, with a preliminary one-time hardware expense of $599
SpaceX’s latest Starlink launch was on Oct. 5, when the business positioned another 52 Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX has actually introduced more than 3,400 Starlink satellites up until now as it works to develop a constellation 12,000 satellites strong. The business has actually likewise gotten approval to release another 30,000 satellites beyond that to enhance its web network.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com(opens in brand-new tab) or follow him @tariqjmalik(opens in brand-new tab) Follow us @Spacedotcom(opens in brand-new tab), Facebook(opens in brand-new tab) and Instagram(opens in brand-new tab)