The Starlink satellites play an important role in the communications of the Ukrainian armed forces. But lately, the failures are piling up. According to a report, Elon Musk is now asking the US Department of Defense to pay for broadband service in Ukraine.
According to a media report, Tesla boss Elon Musk has warned the Pentagon against discontinuing its Starlink system in Ukraine. As CNN reports, Musk’s company SpaceX is said to have informed the Pentagon in a letter that the satellite broadband service for the government in Kyiv and the Ukrainian military can no longer be financed. Accordingly, the company calls on the US Department of Defense in the letter to take over the financing.
In the letter, SpaceX puts the cost for the rest of the year at more than $120 million. For the coming year it is 400 million US dollars. “We are not in a position to donate more terminals to Ukraine or fund the existing terminals indefinitely,” CNN quoted the September letter as saying.
Starlink devices manufactured by SpaceX are an important means of communication in Ukraine. According to the information, around 20,000 of the satellite units have been delivered to Ukraine so far. As CNN writes, about 85 percent of the terminals were paid for – or partially paid for – by countries such as the USA and Poland or other organizations. About 30 percent of the monthly connection costs are also covered by external sponsors.
The government in Kyiv, the army, aid organizations and civilians rely on Starlink to communicate. The service is also used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to pilot drones and correct artillery fire. “Starlink was absolutely necessary because the Russians were targeting Ukraine’s communications infrastructure,” security expert Dimitri Alperovitch told CNN. “Without that, they would really be operating in the dark in a lot of cases.” SpaceX declined to comment on the research to CNN.
Recently there have been problems with the service. The “Financial Times” reported last week that Ukrainian troops have repeatedly had to complain about communication failures. Many of the problems were reported from the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions as front lines crossed into Russian-controlled areas, the newspaper wrote, citing a Ukrainian government official.
Ukrainian military officials fear a secret agreement between Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin could be the reason for the disruption. The weekly “The Economist” suspects that Putin could persuade Musk to completely withdraw access to Starlink for Ukraine. According to Ukrainian sources, he is said to have already denied a request for access from the annexed peninsula of Crimea. In early October, Musk caused irritation when he started polls on Twitter about possible “peace plans” for Ukraine. The proposals showed strong similarities to the Kremlin’s demands.
