SpaceX to continue funding its satellite internet services to Ukraine, withdraws Pentagon funding request: Elon Musk

SpaceX CEO and business Magnate Elon Musk on Monday confirmed that the company will carry on with funding the Starlink Internet service in war-torn Ukraine and also added that he has declined the request for funding to the pentagon.

Making an official statement on Twitter, Musk said, “SpaceX has already withdrawn its request for funding.”

News agency CNN had previously reported that Musk’s company has made an appeal to the US department of Defense Pentagon earlier in September because it was no longer able to provide its essential Starlink terminals or fund the costly auxiliary service “for an indeterminate length of time.”

Moreover, the company asked the Pentagon to bear the expenses for the current terminals operated by the Ukranian government as well as to fund about 8,000 new terminals and services for Ukraine’s military and intelligence services.

As per sources to the CNN, SpaceX had earlier warned the Pentagon that it may discontinue its funding service in Ukraine unless and until US military initiates to bear expenses for the Satellite services.

The letter also has requested that the pentagon is indulged in taking overfunding for Ukraine’s government and military use of Starlink, which as per SpaceX would cost more than USD 120 million for the rest of the year and the costs would surge close to 400 million for the upcoming 12 months. The reports drew a torrent of tweets and posts from social media users both defending and criticizing the move.

According to CNN, the Starlink satellite internet terminals manufactured by Elon Musk’s SpaceX have enabled Ukraine’s military to fight and stay connected even while cellular phone and internet networks have been decimated in its battle with Russia since they first started arriving there last spring.

According to CNN, Musk reiterated SpaceX’s plea to the Pentagon in a series of tweets on Friday.

Musk’s verified account stated in one post that SpaceX’s request was ridiculous. “SpaceX is not requesting to recoup previous expenditures, but also cannot fund the present system indefinitely *and* send several thousand additional terminals that have data demand up to 100X more than average families.

He added that in requesting the Pentagon to pay for Starlink in Ukraine, he was taking the advice of a Ukrainian ambassador who, earlier this month, in response to Musk’s Ukraine peace proposal, said: “F*** off.” This was way before the letter to the Pentagon was issued.

The announcement by SpaceX that it would discontinue supporting Starlink also coincided with growing unease in Ukraine over Musk’s loyalties. Musk recently tweeted a contentious peace proposal, under which Ukraine would cede sovereignty of the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk and give up the Crimean Peninsula.

When asked who Musk supports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he “still very much supports Ukraine” but fears “major escalation.