Pentagon says it’s paying for Elon Musk’s Starlink web in Ukraine


The Pentagon disclosed on Thursday that it has signed a contract to supply SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web service in Ukraine, almost eight months after Elon Musk, the corporate’s proprietor, threatened to terminate entry until the U.S. authorities paid for it.

The Protection Division acknowledged the choice however withheld just about all particulars concerning the settlement, together with how a lot it’s going to value U.S. taxpayers and when the contract was signed. U.S. protection officers had beforehand estimated that the annual value for Starlink in Ukraine, which Musk principally had been donating, will likely be lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.

“Satellite tv for pc communications represent a significant layer in Ukraine’s general communications community and the division contracts with Starlink for providers of this sort,” the Pentagon mentioned in an announcement. “Nevertheless, for operational safety causes and as a result of important nature of those methods — we shouldn’t have further info relating to particular capabilities, contracts or companions to supply presently.”

Although phrases of the deal stay a thriller, it might look like a windfall for Musk, whose $44 billion acquisition of Twitter final 12 months has been a colossal bust up to now. A Constancy mutual fund estimated in a report launched this week that the social media firm could have misplaced two-thirds of its worth.

Officers with SpaceX didn’t reply to an e mail requesting remark concerning the contract, which was first reported by Bloomberg Information. Musk didn’t reply to questions when contacted by Twitter.

Russia checks secretive weapon to focus on SpaceX’s Starlink in Ukraine

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Starlink has develop into a lifeline for its authorities, armed forces and different important operations reminiscent of hospitals. Musk, one of many world’s richest folks, offered hundreds of Starlink terminals, however because the battle has endured, he has expressed concern concerning the expertise getting used for navy functions.

“We’re making an attempt laborious to do the appropriate factor, the place the ‘proper factor’ is a particularly tough ethical query,” Musk wrote on Twitter in February. In October, Musk had urged, additionally in a tweet, that SpaceX couldn’t proceed to cowl the price of Starlink in Ukraine. His musings sparked an uproar.

“SpaceX shouldn’t be asking to recoup previous bills, but additionally can not fund the prevailing system indefinitely *and* ship a number of thousand extra terminals which have knowledge utilization as much as 100X larger than typical households,” Musk wrote then, including, “That is unreasonable.”

A day later, Musk struck a special tone.

“The hell with it … despite the fact that Starlink continues to be shedding cash & different corporations are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll simply preserve funding Ukraine govt free,” he tweeted. After somebody responded to his tweet with the saying “No good deed goes unpunished,” Musk responded: “Even so, we should always nonetheless do good deeds.”

SpaceX had beforehand solid the supply of terminals as a humanitarian gesture, and has provided Starlink to different nations after disasters. However the U.S. Company for Worldwide Growth additionally has bought some Starlink gear and paid to ship it to Ukraine, based on paperwork beforehand obtained by The Washington Put up.



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