After SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on the weekend his company would continue to pay for Starlink in Ukraine, it now appears the Pentagon is considering taking over the bills.
That’s according to Politico on Monday, citing two unnamed U.S. sources familiar with discussions.
The source of funding for Starlink in Ukraine would likely come from the long term Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which helps the Ukrainian military by sourcing American companies for weapons and other equipment for war.
A third source told Politico, “As far as vehicles go, that certainly could be an option.”
There was no comment from SpaceX, but Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Garron Garn told Politico, “we don’t have anything to announce today, and I won’t speculate on future security assistance packages.”
These details come after CNN shared leaked documents it obtained last week, that saw SpaceX request for the Pentagon to takeover Starlink funding in Ukraine.
Elon Musk said SpaceX is burning about $20 million per month at the moment to run Starlink in Ukraine, including ongoing hardware kit costs.
Another anonymous U.S. official told Politico they did not have confidence in trusting Musk, resulting in the Department of Defense to find a way to ensure Starlink or a backup network stays online in Ukraine, as the war continues.
Starlink is a broadband satellite internet network that allows anyone on the ground to use the internet, just with a small satellite dish. It has been utilized by the Ukrainian military and government as they are under attack by Russia, with the latter destroying all other communications networks in the country. So far, there have been 25,000 Starlink kits sent to Ukraine to support the nation.
Update: Musk replied to @SawyerMerritt regarding this Politico story to say SpaceX has already withdrawn its request for funding.
SpaceX has already withdrawn its request for funding
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 17, 2022
Musk also added, “To be precise, 25,300 terminals were sent to Ukraine, but, at present, only 10,630 are paying for service.”
