‘We will just continue to fund the Government of Ukraine for free’
A smartphone with the Starlink logo displayed on the screen.
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Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that his company SpaceX would continue to fund Starlink satellite internet terminals for the Ukrainian government as it fights off invading Russian forces.
“To hell with it,” the billionaire tweeted, “while Starlink continues to lose money and other companies receive billions of taxpayer dollars, we’ll just continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free.”
It was not immediately clear whether Musk, who is also the CEO Tesla, he was being sarcastic. In response to a tweet about the move, Musk said, “we should still do good deeds.” Responding to another tweet stating that Musk has already paid taxes that fund Ukraine’s defense, he said“Fate loves irony.”
Tweets follow Musk’s statement on Friday in which he said SpaceX could not continue to fund Starlink terminals in Ukraine “indefinitely,” after a report suggested his space company had asked the Pentagon to cover the costs.
Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In SpaceX’s letter to the Pentagon, the company said that using Starlink in Ukraine could cost close to $400 million over the next 12 months. according to a CNN report. SpaceX has signed several contracts with the US government.
SpaceX-donated Starlink Internet terminals were instrumental in keeping the Ukrainian military online during the war against Russia, even as communications infrastructure was destroyed. Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Musk drew criticism from Ukrainian officials earlier this month when he released a Twitter poll gauging support for what he claimed was the likely outcome of a Russian-Ukrainian war.
He appeared to confirm that SpaceX plans to leave Ukraine in some capacity on Friday, responding to a post on Twitter that mentioned The Ukrainian ambassador told Musk to “f— off.”
“We’re just following his recommendation,” Musk said.
The founder of SpaceX is also in the middle of a It offered $44 billion to buy Twitter, from which he tried to get out. The judge ruled that he has until Oct. 28 to close the acquisition if he hopes to avoid a trial.
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