Elon Musk Says Spacex Will Keep Funding Ukraine for Free Even Though Starlink Is Losing Money — $80M Spent so Far – Featured Bitcoin News
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Spacex CEO Elon Musk says that his firm will “keep funding” the federal government of Ukraine free of charge though Starlink is dropping cash, noting that it has price Spacex $80 million thus far to supply web terminals and providers to Ukraine. “We’ve also had to defend against cyberattacks and jamming, which are getting harder,” Musk confused.
We’ll Keep Funding Ukraine for Free, Says Musk
Spacex has been sending Starlink web terminals and offering providers to Ukraine because the onset of the Russia-Ukraine battle. On the request of the federal government of Ukraine, Musk started supplying the nation with Starlink web terminals in February.
Nonetheless, Spacex’s director of presidency gross sales reportedly sent a letter to the Pentagon in September, stating that the corporate just isn’t “in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.” The Pentagon reportedly confirmed they obtained correspondence from Spacex concerning the funding of the Starlink satellite tv for pc communications product in Ukraine.
Musk tweeted on Oct. 7 explaining that “only a small percentage” of the Starlink terminals and providers in Ukraine have been paid for. The Spacex chief revealed:
This operation has price Spacex $80M & will exceed $100M by finish of 12 months.
Replying to a query on Twitter about how a lot Spacex is spending “for maintaining Starlink in Ukraine,” Musk detailed: “In addition to terminals, we have to create, launch, maintain & replenish satellites & ground stations & pay telcos for access to [the] internet via gateways. We’ve also had to defend against cyberattacks and jamming, which are getting harder. Burn is approaching ~$20M/month.”
Musk additionally shared in a tweet on Oct. 9: “There are ~25k terminals in Ukraine, but each terminal can be used to provide an internet uplink to a cell phone tower, so potentially several thousand people can be served by a single terminal.”
Commenting on Spacex being unable to maintain offering free services and products to Ukraine, Twitter person and Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt opined: “Spacex’s request is reasonable. Shouldn’t expect a private sector company to continue to fund this for free forever. Do Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop, etc do their work for free? Spacex was generous in donating what they did and they’ll happily continue to manufacture terminals with government money.”
Nonetheless, some folks slammed Musk over his firm’s letter to the Pentagon. Musk then tweeted Saturday: “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.”
It was not instantly clear whether or not the Tesla CEO was being sarcastic or whether or not Spacex intends to proceed offering free services and products to Ukraine. Responding to a tweet concerning the transfer, Musk clarified: “we should still do good deeds.”
Musk explained on Oct. 14 that there’s a “big difference” between peace communications and warfront communications. “Starlink is [the] only comms system still working at warfront — others [are] all dead. Russia is actively trying to kill Starlink. To safeguard, Spacex has diverted massive resources toward defense. Even so, Starlink may still die,” he cautioned. The Spacex boss described in a follow-up tweet: “Internet fiber, phone lines, cell towers & other space-based comms in war areas have been destroyed. Starlink is all that’s left. For now.”
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s vice prime minister and the minister of digital transformation, tweeted on Oct. 14: “Definitely, Elon Musk is among the world’s top private donors supporting Ukraine. Starlink is an essential element of our critical infrastructure.” He additionally shared on Oct. 12:
Over 100 cruise missiles attacked vitality and communications infrastructure. However with Starlink we rapidly restored the connection in important areas. Starlink continues to be an important a part of important infrastructure.
Do you suppose Spacex and Elon Musk ought to proceed to pay for the Starlink terminals and providers in Ukraine though they’re dropping cash? Tell us within the feedback part under.
Kevin Helms
Picture Credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
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