Elon Musk Says SpaceX Will Continue Funding Starlink’s Internet Access in Ukraine, Cites Need for ‘Do Good’
Elon Musk said on Saturday his rocket company SpaceX will continue to fund its Starlink internet service in Ukraine, citing the need for “good action”, a day after he said it can no longer afford to do so.
Musk tweeted: “damn it… even though Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions of dollars in taxes, we’ll continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free.”
What the heck… even though Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions of dollars in taxpayer dollars, we will continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022
Tesla CEO speak on Friday that SpaceX could not indefinitely fund Starlink in Ukraine. This service has kept civilians and troops online throughout the war with Russia.
While it wasn’t immediately clear if Musk’s change of mind was genuine, he later appeared to point it out. When a Twitter user told Musk “No good deed goes unpunished”, he answered “Even so, we should still do good deeds.”
The billionaire has fought online with Ukrainian officials over a peace plan he has put forward that Ukraine says is too generous for Russia.
He made the comments on Friday about the funding after it was reported that SpaceX had asked the Pentagon to pay for Starlink contributions.
At the time, Musk said Starlink was spending nearly $20 million (about Rs 165) a month, which he called a “burn” to maintain satellite services in Ukraine. He recently said that SpaceX spent about $80 million (about 660 crore) to activate and support Starlink in Ukraine.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon declined to comment.
Musk activated Starlink in Ukraine in late February after internet services were disrupted because of the Russian invasion. SpaceX has since supplied it with thousands of terminals.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
