'Can't fund anymore': Elon Musk requests Pentagon to pay for Starlink services in Ukraine

SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has been providing war-torn Ukraine with Tesla's Powerwall energy-saving systems and Starlink satellite internet terminals, is now requesting Pentagon to pay for its service, saying, "it can no longer continue to fund the Starlink service as it has".

According to a report by the American broadcast, CNN, Musk's company has sent a letter to the Pentagon wherein it asserted that the firm is not in the condition to fund the Starlink service as it has. Further, in the letter, the entrepreneur has categorically mentioned Pentagon taking over funding for Ukraine’s government and military use of Starlink.

As per the earlier tweet of the world's richest man, operating Starlink costs $80 million to SpaceX and added the costs will exceed $100 million by the end of the year. Besides, the spacecraft manufacturer claims the operation would cost more than $120 million for the rest of the year and could cost close to $400 million for the next 12 months. "We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time," CNN quoted SpaceX’s director of government sales as saying to the Pentagon in the September letter.

Notably, Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, which provides satellite Internet access coverage to at least 40 countries. Since the war escalated in Ukraine, it has been playing a crucial role in establishing connectivity. Moreover, the Ukrainian army has also been using the device on the battlefield-- to connect to the administration and to use drones against Moscow. As per the latest data, Musk has donated nearly 20,000 Starlink satellite units to the already war-ravaged nation of which Russian forces have been destroying nearly 500 units every month.

Who bears the cost of Starlink Sattelite operation in Ukraine?

"Starlink has been absolutely essential because the Russians have targeted the Ukrainian communications infrastructure," said Dimitri Alperovitch, co-founder of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, a think tank. "Without that, they’d be really operating in the blind in many cases," he added. It is crucial to note that Musk has won accolades across the globe for providing "free internet services to Ukraine". However, later it was disclosed that about 85% of the 20,000 terminals in Ukraine were paid – or partially paid – for by countries like the US and Poland or other entities. Citing the newly-obtained documents, the report claimed among the contributors, the largest single contributor of terminals is Poland with payment for almost 9,000 individual terminals.