Billionaire Elon Musk has said his space exploration company SpaceX cannot “indefinitely” fund the Starlink internet service in war-hit Ukraine, days after a proposal to end the conflict that included the country ceding some territory to Russia called his support into question.
“SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely *and* send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households. This is unreasonable,” Musk said on Twitter.
Musk activated Starlink, a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, in late February after Ukraine’s internet services were disrupted due to Russia’s invasion. Its internet terminals have been crucial in keeping the Ukrainian military online.
Musk said Starlink was spending nearly $20m a month – which he called a “burn” – for maintaining satellite services in Ukraine. He recently said SpaceX had spent about $80m to enable and support Starlink in Ukraine.
CNN reported on Thursday that SpaceX had sent a letter to the Pentagon last month saying it may have to stop funding the service unless the United States military helped with tens of millions of dollars a month.
One of Musk’s tweets suggested the move may also be a response to harsh criticism following his proposed “peace” plan.
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