SpaceX CEO Elon Musk reversed his resolution to cease funding the Starlink terminals despatched to Ukraine, saying on Twitter that the corporate will proceed to offer “free” satellite tv for pc web service to the federal government even when it means the corporate loses cash.
“The hell with it,” Musk writes on Twitter. “Regardless that Starlink remains to be shedding cash & different corporations are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll simply maintain funding Ukraine govt free of charge.”
On Friday, a report from CNN revealed that SpaceX requested the federal government if it might pay for any extra terminals despatched to Ukraine, in addition to for present web providers. These bills may reportedly quantity to about $124 million by the top of 2022 and practically $380 million over the following 12 months. Musk later added on Twitter that Starlink can’t fund providers in Ukraine “indefinitely,” noting in another tweet that Starlink’s shedding about $20 million a month to keep up its providers.
Musk confronted criticism after polling Twitter users whether or not Ukraine ought to obtain “peace” with Russia by surrendering Crimea and different annexed areas. This prompted a reply from Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, who said “fuck off is my very diplomatic reply.” Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov later tweeted that Musk “is among the many world’s prime personal donors supporting Ukraine,” and that “Starlink is a vital aspect of our vital infrastructure.”