Starlink: Elon Musk will finally continue to finance access to Internet service in Ukraine

Elon Musk has said he will continue to fund Ukraine’s Starlink mobile internet system for free “indefinitely”, following talks with the US Department of Defense.

Elon Musk has changed his mind again. After having backtracked by finally wanting to conclude the takeover of Twitter at 44 billion euros, the billionaire has just announced that hisSpaceX company was going to fund the use of Starlink in Ukraine “indefinitely”. As a reminder, Elon Musk demanded a few days ago that the Pentagon take over for finance the deployment of other facilities and ongoing service charges in the country.

The talks come as Musk is embroiled in public spats with Ukrainian leaders angered by his controversial proposals to de-escalate the conflict, which included recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea. However, the controversy seems to have died down after Ukrainian leaders ended up recalling that Elon Musk’s help had been decisive in recent months.

SpaceX will continue to lose money in Ukraine

” Even if Starlink continues to lose money and other companies receive billions of taxpayer dollars, we will continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free. ,” Musk tweeted on Saturday.

According to CNN, SpaceX had told the Pentagon that continuing to provide the Ukrainian government with access to Starlink would cost the company more than $120 million for the remainder of 2022 and nearly $400 million over the next 12 months. “ We are unable to donate more terminals to Ukraine, or fund existing terminals indefinitely “, had written the company.

The company reportedly spends nearly $20 million a month to provide satellite internet to Ukrainians, which some local government officials have recalled has proven crucial in the country’s defense against Russia. Since they began arriving in Ukraine last spring, SpaceX-made Starlink internet terminals have enabled the Ukrainian military to fight and stay connected while the cell phone and internet networks were destroyed by the opposing camp.