Today there are around 3,000 small Starlink satellites floating in the Earth’s atmosphere. These are low down, and have been vital for Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion. Namely, SpaceX has paid for around 25,000 terminals that are on the ground in Ukrainian territory, and for the launch, maintenance and defense of the satellites. Although several countries claim to have injected money for the terminals, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, says the project is too expensive. He tweets that he has notified the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense, that the money will run out, and ask them to take the bill for future expenses. These antennas connect the satellite-based Starlink network to the ground in Ukraine. Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP Musk further writes that it is “unreasonable” that his company should pay to send several thousand new terminals to Ukraine, which he says has a hundred times higher data usage than ordinary households. According to him, the project will have cost SpaceX between NOK 800 million and NOK 1 billion before the new year. CNN, on the other hand, reports that figures SpaceX has shared with the Pentagon show that around 85 percent of the first 20,000 terminals in Ukraine are at least partially paid for. This money is said to have come from the USA and Poland, among other things. CNN also claims that around a third of the internet connection was paid for by the same parties. A top source in the Pentagon tells the newspaper that Musk and SpaceX are “impudent” who “call themselves heroes”, while others have had to pay for a lot of the work and the Pentagon has now received a bill of several tens of millions a month. Confirms talks with SpaceX The Pentagon confirms to AFP that it is in talks with the billionaire’s company about how to pay for the important network connection in Ukraine. – The ministry has received correspondence from SpaceX about the financing of the satellite communication product in Ukraine, says press spokesperson Sabrina Singh in the US Department of Defense. – We are still in conversation with SpaceX about this and other topics. This SpaceX rocket sent 60 new Starlink satellites into the atmosphere last month. Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP Singh has previously told journalists that there are possible alternatives to Starlink, but would not say specifically what these were. During yesterday, Musk was involved in several conflicts with Ukrainian leaders on Twitter, who were provoked by the plan he presented to de-escalate the conflict. This involved, among other things, accepting that the Crimean peninsula becomes Russian, and redoing the referendums in the area that Russia is trying to annex. Russian top managers say they are positive about the latter. Asked Musk to “go to hell” The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, joined the debate on Musk’s proposals on Twitter on Friday. He told Musk to “go to hell.” Musk replied that SpaceX was “just following his recommendation ?”. The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk. Photo: SOEREN STACHE / AFP Last night, however, the US Agency for International Development said that SpaceX had not withdrawn its services from Ukraine, as far as they knew. A top Ukrainian leader who is close to the president, Mykhaylo Podolyak, also tweeted this: – Whether we like it or not, Elon Musk has helped us survive the most critical moments of the war. He added that Ukraine would “find a solution” so that Starlink could continue operating.
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Musk wants the Pentagon to foot the bill for network connection in Ukraine – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
