Starlink for Ukraine may cost SpaceX US$380 million more as Elon Musk says the Pentagon should take over the 2023 payments

[Redaktion]

SpaceX has sent the Pentagon a letter of request to start paying for Starlink's satellite Internet service over Ukraine. Earlier in the conflict there, Elon Musk answered the call of Ukrainian officials and provided indispensable coverage, but SpaceX says that next year it would have to spend up to US$380 million to keep things going.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Starlink-for-Ukraine-may-cost-SpaceX-US-380-million-more-as-Elon-Musk-says-the-Pentagon-should-take-over-the-2023-payments.662021.0.html

[NikoB]

Offended Musk, allegedly the richest man in the world. For him, 520 million is nonsense (he is going to buy a dummy Twitter for 44 billion, if that). The Ukrainians are fighting for their land, and the immoral Musk at the most crucial moment
suddenly and cynically cuts off communications in the troops on the front line, which leads to increased losses. In fact, he is now guilty of unnecessary deaths of Ukrainian soldiers because of that.


How moral is this position? And for the US / EU authorities, 520 million for critical communications for the Ukrainian troops is just nonsense, especially since this is a payment for the end of 2022 and all of 2023.


Let me remind you that just recently the American press was writing with might and main that in the United States more than 300 billion dollars were stolen by fictitious, fraudulent requests for social assistance to small businesses, according to preliminary estimates of auditors.


Critical infrastructure like Starlink, on which the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian fighters now depend, cannot be controlled by a private nutcase and must be, at least temporarily, for the duration of hostilities, be transferred under the control of the Pentagon, the US authorities. And if Musk opposes this, it should be nationalized. So his profits and losses are simply nothing against the background of the deaths of tens of thousands of people at the most crucial moment, when the territories are being liberated.


I hope that this is only the madness of the wealthy Musk, and not the secret position of the United States+EU, to merge Ukraine (because of the fear of a nuclear war of the entire West and for the sake of this betrayal of all principles) and forcing Ukrainians into an immoral deal as a result of which they will lose significant territories and have already lost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians.


p.s.

Let me also remind you that the United States, by Biden's direct statement on the White House website, has lost about $2 trillion in Afghanistan over 20 years, I.e. expenses (or rather drank the state budget) were at the level of $ 100 billion for each year, despite the fact that Afghanistan is not close in terms of criticality for the West with the war in Ukraine, which is a priori more expensive than that operation at times and requires much more money. At the same time, real assistance from the United States for 7 months amounted to only about 19-20 billion, or 1/5 of what the Americans spent (or sawed by corrupt officials) in Afghanistan on average for 1 year out of every 20 years. At the same time, they achieved NOTHING and fled from there. Maybe it's time to learn from your own mistakes. Or soon there will be no one and nowhere to study...

If the US and EU authorities are afraid of nuclear blackmail, they have already lost this war (at least morally in the eyes of progressive people in developing countries), despite their multiple superiority in economic and technological power.

[Evan]

This is a reasonable economic position. SpaceX needs to stay in business to continue providing Starlink services and they can't stay in business without adequate revenue. Whether its DOD or Ukraine's Defense Ministry someone needs to sign a contract and get SpaceX the revenue it needs to operate and capitalize Starlink service in Ukraine.  Between the two I think DOD is the better customer, not because Ukraine can't afford it, this is only a few hundred million we're talking about, but rather because the DOD can say, "and you'll provide service over ALL Ukraine" and, as a US vendor, it would be inappropriate for SpaceX to make political arguments to the contrary.

[Stalin,Vodka and Matroska]

2NicoB
I might be wrong, but AFAIK Mr. Musk owes Ukrainian soldiers a less than nothing. However, I've read your text with a great pleasure. The more Ukrainian supporters will become insolently demanding and moronic like you, the shorter will come the end of this stupid, bloody war, which needed by literally no one.

P.S. Some of my relatives (former Ukraine citizens) have a long unpaid bill to Ukraine state since 2014, so please don't bother yourself trying to tell me how wrong and badass I am.

P.P.S. If US wasted a 2T$ on killing Afghan people along with feeding US military industry, it should immediately spend at least 4T$ on funding Afghans to build up their destroyed country. I think it is morally legal and mandatory, isn't it? Do you, as a moral expert, agree with me?

[Anonymousgg]

Starlink is not a charity. It has massive costs of anywhere between $10-30 billion before it reaches profitability, and then lesser but recurring costs as the satellites need to be deorbited. Meanwhile, billions will be spent on Starship development, so that it can be used to launch Starlink satellites and everything else. With the U.S. and others spending billions to fund a proxy war, there's no reason for SpaceX not to try to tap that money.

Also, Musk didn't just pull a wad of cash out of his pocket to attempt to buy Twitter. He needed to sell shares of Tesla.

[NikoB]

Another brainless Putin bot.

Musk is a criminal if he turned off communication on the front line without resolving the payment conflict in advance and keeping silent about it for months. This is not discussed among normal and adequate people. But how many normal people are left on planet Earth? Rhetorical question...

[fortehlulz]

Offended Musk, allegedly the richest man in the world. For him, 520 million is nonsense (he is going to buy a dummy Twitter for 44 billion, if that). The Ukrainians are fighting for their land, and the immoral Musk at the most crucial moment
suddenly and cynically cuts off communications in the troops on the front line, which leads to increased losses. In fact, he is now guilty of unnecessary deaths of Ukrainian soldiers because of that.


How moral is this position? And for the US / EU authorities, 520 million for critical communications for the Ukrainian troops is just nonsense, especially since this is a payment for the end of 2022 and all of 2023.


Let me remind you that just recently the American press was writing with might and main that in the United States more than 300 billion dollars were stolen by fictitious, fraudulent requests for social assistance to small businesses, according to preliminary estimates of auditors.


Critical infrastructure like Starlink, on which the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian fighters now depend, cannot be controlled by a private nutcase and must be, at least temporarily, for the duration of hostilities, be transferred under the control of the Pentagon, the US authorities. And if Musk opposes this, it should be nationalized. So his profits and losses are simply nothing against the background of the deaths of tens of thousands of people at the most crucial moment, when the territories are being liberated.


I hope that this is only the madness of the wealthy Musk, and not the secret position of the United States+EU, to merge Ukraine (because of the fear of a nuclear war of the entire West and for the sake of this betrayal of all principles) and forcing Ukrainians into an immoral deal as a result of which they will lose significant territories and have already lost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians.


p.s.

Let me also remind you that the United States, by Biden's direct statement on the White House website, has lost about $2 trillion in Afghanistan over 20 years, I.e. expenses (or rather drank the state budget) were at the level of $ 100 billion for each year, despite the fact that Afghanistan is not close in terms of criticality for the West with the war in Ukraine, which is a priori more expensive than that operation at times and requires much more money. At the same time, real assistance from the United States for 7 months amounted to only about 19-20 billion, or 1/5 of what the Americans spent (or sawed by corrupt officials) in Afghanistan on average for 1 year out of every 20 years. At the same time, they achieved NOTHING and fled from there. Maybe it's time to learn from your own mistakes. Or soon there will be no one and nowhere to study...

If the US and EU authorities are afraid of nuclear blackmail, they have already lost this war (at least morally in the eyes of progressive people in developing countries), despite their multiple superiority in economic and technological power.

Shutup already. lol

[NikoB]

Moral freaks all over the world are not news to me.

[tuudles]

Musk is a parasite. First he attached himself to the US govt, sucking it dry.
Now he's attached himself to the CCP.

He's like a tick, but he carries an infection that affects the brain somehow.