Elon Musk said on Friday that SpaceX could not “indefinitely” fund the Starlink internet service in Ukraine and send it several thousand more terminals. That came after a report suggested that his rocket company had asked the Pentagon to pay for the donations in the future. Ukraine officials are angry that he asked for help to pay for it. This comes after Musk was put on a Ukraine “kill list” and a top official told him to “F.. off.”
On Friday, Musk responded to a tweet from the Kyiv Post’s Jason Smart that reads: “Elon Musk’s Starlink says it can no longer afford to give Ukraine free service and asks the Pentagon to pay for it. Starlink had been a game changer in the war.”
“SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households. This is unreasonable,” Musk said on Twitter.
BACKGROUND
Musk has been spending nearly $20 million a month, he called it a “burn,” for maintaining satellite services in Ukraine. He recently said that SpaceX had spent about $80 million to enable and support Starlink in Ukraine.
CNN reported on Thursday that SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon last month saying it could not continue to fund the Starlink service in Ukraine. The company asked the U.S. military for help with millions of dollars a month.
The letter obtained by CNN states that Space X says it’s “not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.”
This is what the government doesn’t know how to do – stop spending money.
Musk activated Starlink in Ukraine in late February after Russia’s invasion disrupted internet services.
INGRATES
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was among those who criticized Musk’s proposal.
Ukraine’s outgoing ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, said on Twitter: “F— off is my very diplomatic reply to you @elonmusk.”
Musk, responding to a post about dropping the Starlink service and the ambassador’s remark, said: “We’re just following his recommendation.”
Musk jumped in to help them, but he never signed on to years of help.
Social media plants are now attacking Musk, claiming he should do it because of the money the US has put into Starlink.
Musk is now under attack on social media.
This afternoon, Musk responded again. He wrote on Twitter, “The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.”
That’s how the taxpayers feel.
The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 15, 2022
KIM DOTCOM CALLS IT
KiM DotCom responded, “Ukraine leaders insulted Elon for talking peace, posted pics of him as a prisoner of war, put him on a kill list, and told him to “f– off.” They’re not just ungrateful, they are idiots. Let’s send them more money.”
Starlink is the “primary comms system of the Ukrainian army.”
Ukraine leaders insulted Elon for talking peace, posted pics of him as a prisoner of war, put him on a kill list and told him to “fuck off”. They’re not just ungrateful, they are idiots. Let’s send them more money 🤣 https://t.co/vTphXvQLkY
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) October 15, 2022
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