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SpaceX has sent a letter to the Pentagon asking it to foot the bill for funding the aerospace giant’s Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in an Oct. 7 tweet that Starlink in Ukraine has cost the company $80 million and will surpass $100 million by the end of the year. The letter, obtained and first reported by CNN, claims it would cost more than $120 million to fund Starlink in Ukraine for the remainder of the year and could reach nearly $400 million over the next 12 months -dollars cost.
“SpaceX isn’t requiring to recoup past expenses, but neither can it fund the existing system indefinitely *and* broadcast several thousand more terminals that have up to 100 times the data usage of typical households,” Musk wrote in Friday a tweet. “That’s unreasonable.”
Alongside the terminals, Musk stressed that SpaceX must create, launch, maintain and replenish satellites and ground stations, pay telecom companies for internet access through gateways, and defend against cyberattacks and jamming.
“Burn is approaching ~$20M/month,” he added.
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SpaceX has sent around 20,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine so far.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that the Department of Defense received the letter from SpaceX.
“We remain in touch with SpaceX on this and other issues,” Singh said.
The letter comes after Musk sparked a firestorm on Twitter earlier this month when he tweeted a poll asking respondents to comment on a range of proposals for peace between Ukraine and Russia.
The proposal included repeating the elections of the annexed regions under UN supervision, making Crimea officially part of Russia, and ensuring that Crimea’s and Ukraine’s water supplies remain neutral. About 59% of respondents voted no, while 40.9% of respondents voted yes.
Musk said that such a scenario was “most likely” the result of the Russo-Ukrainian war, noting it was “just a question of how many die by then.” He also argued that nuclear war was “a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome” of the conflict.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released his own Twitter poll asking, “Which @elonmusk do you like more?” with the options including one supporting Ukraine and one supporting Russia.
Responding to the poll, Musk wrote: “I still strongly support Ukraine, but I am convinced that a massive escalation of the war will cause great damage to Ukraine and possibly the world.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, responded to Musk’s poll, tweeting: “F—off is my very diplomatic reply to you.”
“The only result is that now no Ukrainian will buy your fucking Tesla crap,” he added in a separate tweet. “So good luck to you.”
On Friday, Musk said SpaceX was only on Melynk’s recommendation after the Pentagon letter surfaced.
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Ukraine’s presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said Friday that Musk helped Ukraine “survive the most critical moments of the war” and that the country will find a solution to keep Starlink running.
“We expect the company to provide a stable connection by the end of the negotiations,” added Podolyak.
“The Department continues to work with industry to find solutions for Ukraine’s armed forces as they repel Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told FOX Business.
SpaceX, which did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ inquiry, has launched over 3,000 Starlink satellites to date. Starlink, which is available on all seven continents including Antarctica, has a global user base of more than 400,000 subscribers.