Musk claims that SpaceX will continue to support Ukraine Starlink Internet

Saturday, October 15, 2022 | Chimniii Desk

It's the hell with it. Even though Starlink is still losing money, we will keep funding the Ukranian government for free. Ukraine's military and people rely on Starlink to stay online. The Ukrainians say it helped to restart key infrastructure after the Russian attacks. Russian missiles hit energy installations this week. There are thousands of satellites in Starlink. According to US media, Mr Musk asked the Pentagon to fund the Starlink programme instead of him. SpaceX is not asking to recover past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely.

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The move drew strong criticism. Mr Musk caused a stir by suggesting that Ukraine could give up territory to Russia. The Starlink programme costs $20m per month to maintain, according to Mr Musk. He said that the company had spent $80 million to keep Ukraine online. We have to create, launch, maintain and replenish satellites and ground stations. We have had to defend against cyberattacks and jamming. Ukraine's vice-Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, downplayed tensions with Mr Musk, writing that the billionaire is among the world's top private donors supporting Ukraine. He wrote, "Starlink is an essential element of our critical infrastructure."

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Earlier this month, Mr Musk proposed that Ukraine accept Russia's annexation of Crimea and allow referendums in Ukrainian regions that have been invaded by Moscow. The overture was responded to positively by the Kremlin. Mr Musk was told to go away by the outgoing ambassador to Germany. On Friday, Mr Musk responded to a post that referred to the ambassador's remark. "Moscow recently declared four more Ukrainian regions to be part of Russia, following so-called referendums denounced as fraudulent by Kyiv and its Western allies." Russia does not have complete control of the four regions. Mr Musk has suggested that the world should formally recognize the annexation of the peninsula by Russia. Mr Musk denied that he spoke to Putin before releasing his poll. I spoke to Putin about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space. The researcher claimed that Mr Musk told him about the alleged conversation.

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