Tech billionaire Elon Musk reverses course on his previous statement and says that his company, SpaceX, would continue to fund Ukraine's Starlink service for free amid Russia's war on the country despite the endeavor resulting in him losing money.
The satellite internet service provided by Musk's SpaceX has been a crucial source of communication in the war-torn nation during its defense against Russia's aggression. The announcement comes after SpaceX, earlier this week, warned the Pentagon that it could stop funding the internet service in Ukraine.
SpaceX Satellite in Ukraine
The company said that this would be done unless the US military kicks in tens of millions of dollars per month. The warning, which was made in documents, also requested that the Pentagon take over funding for Ukraine's government and military use of Starlink.
SpaceX claims that the endeavor would cost more than $120 million for the rest of the year and could cost up to $400 million for the next year. Furthermore, the report cited a flurry of tweets from social media users who were both defending and criticizing the move, as per CNN.
Musk's verified Twitter account also posted on Saturday, saying, "The hell with it, even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we'll just keep funding Ukraine govt. For free."
The Starlink satellite terminals, since they first started arriving in Ukraine last spring, have allowed the country's military to fight and stay connected even as cellular phone and internet networks have been destroyed by the conflict with Russia.
According to Reuters, a spokesperson for the Pentagon said on Friday that it had been communicating with SpaceX. However, they did not reveal details on whether or not the talks were about the funding of the Starlink satellite communication product.
Good Deeds
One follower replied to Musk by saying that no good deed goes unpunished, to which the tech billionaire replied by saying, "Even so, we should still do good deeds." On Friday, the SpaceX CEO doubled down on the company's request to the Pentagon in a series of posts on Twitter.
One post said that the space company is not asking to recoup expenses but noted that it could not fund the existing system indefinitely. It added that it would not be able to send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100x greater than typical households, calling the situation unreasonable.
Musk also noted that requesting the Pentagon to fund the program was his way of following the advice of a Ukrainian diplomat who replied to his Ukraine peace plan earlier this month. This was before the letter was sent to the Pentagon, with the Ukrainian official telling Musk to, "F*** off."
The tech billionaire said that SpaceX started sending Starlink terminals that allow access to its satellite internet service to Ukraine in late February, prior to the beginning of the war with Russia. The president of Space, Gwynne Shotwell, added that at the time, the company had been working on the project for weeks, Space reported.
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