SpaceX may have to stop providing Starlink terminals in Ukraine unless the US government steps in to cover the costs, the company writes in a letter to the Pentagon.
According to CNN, SpaceX wrote to the US Defense Department on Sept. 8 requesting that the US government start paying for Starlink access in Ukraine, which has become crucial to helping the country’s military fight Russian forces.
“We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time,” SpaceX reportedly told the Pentagon.
Elon Musk seemingly confirmed CNN’s reporting on Twitter. In a tweet on Friday, the SpaceX CEO said the company has had to pay tens of millions to operate the Starlink service in Ukraine while fending off cyberattacks from Russia. “Burn is approaching ~$20M/month,” he added.
A user on Twitter also noted that the SpaceX request comes after a Ukrainian ambassador told Musk to "f*** off" after he suggest a peace plan for the war that many saw as pro-Russian. In response, Musk tweeted back: "We’re just following his recommendation."
Earlier this month, Musk also tweeted that Starlink continues to represent a financial loss for SpaceX. “Should be noted that Starlink is still far from cash flow positive. All LEO (low-Earth orbiting) communications constellations to date have gone bankrupt, so any support is super helpful.”
However, the CNN report claims US and foreign governments already fund a large portion of the Starlink access in Ukraine—contrary to Musk’s past statements. SpaceX’s own letter to the Pentagon last month reportedly notes around 85% of the 20,000 Starlink dishes in Ukraine were paid, or partially paid, for by countries like the US, Poland, UK, or other groups, such as NGOs and charity organizations. These same governments and groups subsidized 30% of the internet access for Starlink in Ukraine.
In response to CNN's report, a few charity workers in Ukraine have also posted on Twitter that many local Ukrainian residents and soldiers have been paying for Starlink access in the country—not SpaceX.
Now SpaceX has told the Pentagon it’ll need to pay over $120 million to fund the Starlink access in Ukraine for the rest of the year. The US will also need to fork over close to $400 million to maintain Starlink access in the country for the next 12 months.
The SpaceX funding request reportedly rankled top officials at the Pentagon. One defense official told CNN that SpaceX has “the gall to look like heroes” even though the US and other governments have already been funding the effort, and now have been asked to pay even more.
Complicating matters has been Musk’s own stance on the war. Although SpaceX’s CEO says he supports Ukraine, he also fears the conflict with Russia will escalate into nuclear war if the fighting expands. This prompted Musk to float a peace proposal on Twitter that many saw as pro-Kremlin since it involved Ukraine giving up the disputed region of Crimea to Russia.
At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers have encountered outages while using Starlink in territories reclaimed from Russian forces, according to The Financial Times. The outages may have been caused by SpaceX’s geo-restrictions for Starlink, although it appears the disruptions have ceased, for now.