Elon Musk says Starlink network in Ukraine has not received US funding
Billionaire Elon Musk said on Tuesday SpaceX's Starlink services have not received any funding from the US Department of Defense, a day after reports said The Pentagon is considering paying for Starlink satellite network in war-torn Ukraine.
SpaceX is losing approximately $20 million a month from unpaid service and costs related to security measures for cyberwar defense, but "we'll keep doing it (sigh)", Musk tweeted.
"No money from DoD, but several other countries, orgs & individuals are paying for ~11k/25k terminals," Musk said.
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The Pentagon is considering paying for the service to Ukraine, Politico reported on Monday, citing two US officials involved in the discussions.
The most likely source of funding would be the US Department of Defense Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, designed to support the country as it fights Russia, the report added.
Musk had said on Friday that SpaceX could not indefinitely fund Starlink in Ukraine, but backtracked over the weekend to assert the rocket company would continue to fund the service in the country.
He said in a tweet on Monday that SpaceX had already withdrawn its request for funding, an acknowledgement that such a request was made.
A separate report in the Financial Times said the European Union was also weighing funding Starlink in Ukraine, citing three officials with knowledge of the decision.
Musk, the world's richest person and chief executive of Tesla Inc, said SpaceX spends nearly $20 million a month for maintaining satellite services in Ukraine and that the company has spent about $80 million to enable and support and support Starlink there.
"To be precise, 25,300 terminals were sent to Ukraine, but, at present, only 10,630 are paying for service," Musk tweeted on Monday.
Starlink has helped Ukraine's civilians and military stay online during the war, with Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov last week saying Starlink's services helped restore energy and communications infrastructure in critical areas.
