SpaceX may no longer pay for satellite services in Ukraine; seeks help from Pentagon

SpaceX is not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time, a company official said in a letter to the US Defense Department.

Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet terminals have been an essential means of communication for Ukraine's military ever since they first started to arrive there last spring, allowing it to fight and stay connected even as cellular phone and internet networks were destroyed in that nation's conflict with Russia.

Musk stated in a tweet on Friday that the cost of the operation has already reached $80 million for SpaceX and will reach $100 million by the end of the year. Nearly 20,000 Starlink satellites have been given to Ukraine. Although SpaceX has informed the Pentagon that it may stop funding the service in Ukraine unless the US military pays tens of millions of dollars each month, such charitable gifts may soon come to an end.

In a letter sent last month, Musk's SpaceX informed the Pentagon that it could no longer afford to continue offering the Starlink service in the same manner, according to reportes obtained by CNN. Additionally, it requested that the Pentagon take on the burden of sustaining Starlink use by the Ukrainian government and military, which SpaceX estimates would cost more than $120 million this year and up to $400 million over the course of the next year.

In the September letter to the Pentagon, the director of government sales for SpaceX stated, "We are not in a position to give additional terminals to Ukraine, or support the present terminals for an unlimited length of time."

Growing scepticism about Musk's devotion in Ukraine also coincides with SpaceX's declaration that it will stop funding Starlink. Musk recently posted a divisive peace plan on Twitter, requesting that Ukraine hand up sovereignty of the Crimea and the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. Elon Musk came under criticism on Twitter last week when he revealed his strategy for ending the war in a series of tweets, including from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.