US DoD says 'govt exploring solution' after Elon Musk refuses to pay for Starlink in Kyiv

After SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently relayed to the US Department of Defense that his aerospace firm can no longer pay for the Starlink satellite internet terminals for Ukraine’s armed forces, Defense Department (DoD) spokesman Bob Ditchey said that the US government has been exploring a solution to the issue.  “The Department continues to work with industry to explore solutions for Ukraine’s armed forces as they repel Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression. We do not have anything else to add at this time,"  Ditchey informed the American broadcaster CNN when reached out to confirm about Biden administration's involvement in funding. 

In a letter obtained by the network written by SpaceX to the Pentagon, it was mentioned that nearly 85% of Starlink terminals provided to Ukraine were financed by "third parties'', including the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and Poland. SpaceX outlined "financial difficulties" asking the Biden administration to start funding "fully" the Starlink services for Ukraine. The company estimated that the services will cost the company an estimated $120 million for the remaining year of 2022, and then $400 million for the upcoming 12 months. “We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time,” SpaceX’s director of government sales reportedly informed the US military in the letter. 

Credit: Twitter/@FedorovMykhailo

Starlink 'a critical infrastructure' 

At least 20,000 Starlink satellite units, that Ukraine's military says is a "critical infrastructure," were donated by the company at the beginning of the invasion in February. Another letter reveals that Ukraine's top military commander, Valery Zaluzhny, directly requested SpaceX for 8,000 units more in the month of July. SpaceX, in a response letter, said that the company “faces terribly difficult decisions here,” not rejecting the demand more transparently. “I do not think they have the financial ability to provide any additional terminals or service as requested by General Zaluzhny," SpaceX's consultant told the Ukrainian military General.

While Musk claims that the Starlink services to Ukraine would cost his firm more than $100 million, the leaked letter shows that the “vast majority” of the 20,000 units provided to Ukraine's military received “full or partial funding” from the American, British and Polish governments. The US government, however, denied its involvement. Poland was mentioned as the single greatest contributor, buying nearly 9,000 units, far more than the US. Musk took to his Twitter to clarify that the Starlink terminals and service were paid for. He stated that, at the time, only a "small percentage" was paid for. And that, the terminals cost SpaceX about $80 million. 

Earlier, former Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby also denied that the US military funded any Starlink satellite kits to be supplied to Ukraine at a briefing, as opposed to the letter recently leaked. Kirby was asked by a reporter in Washington if Elon Musk had funding assistance from the Pentagon for providing the Starlink terminals to Kyiv.  “No help from us that I’m aware of,” Kirby said. When asked if Starlink has proven to be of a tactical advantage in the war, Kirby stated that it was “really for the Ukrainians to speak to.” Kirby reiterated that “the US Military and I know we’ve no involvement by us in respect to that.” 

Musk’s SpaceX made the Starlink terminals available for Ukraine’s military forces to operate drones, receive intelligence and communicate mainly in regions where there was either no secure network or Ukrainian networks were slow and hampered the counteroffensive gains. On Twitter, Elon Musk informed that his aerospace corporation SpaceX spent an estimated $80 million to support Starlink in Ukraine.

"Obviously, we are pro Ukraine," he tweeted, just hours after he riled up a controversy, having launched a Twitter poll on the Ukraine peace plan.

Musk suggested that Ukrainians must hand over the control of Crimea to Russia, attracting backlash from Ukrainian diplomats. Earlier, it was reported by FT, that there were several “mysterious” outages of Starlink communication devices on the frontline. This hindered the Ukraine armed forces’ counteroffensive and efforts to liberate the occupied regions, the paper quoted the Ukrainian soldiers as saying. The outages, they stated, led to a “catastrophic” loss of communication on the frontline.