Reports revealed on Thursday that SpaceX, the spacecraft and satellite communications company founded by Elon Musk, had informed the Pentagon that it can no longer afford to fund the Starlink satellite internet systems sent to Ukraine in the early days of the Russian invasion. The reports were soon confirmed by Musk himself, who suggested on Twitter that he was simply following the “recommendation” of Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk who told him to “f*ck off” in early October.
Elon Musk’s Starlink says it can no longer afford to give Ukraine ?? free service and asks the Pentagon ?? to pay for it. Starlink had been a game changer in the war.
This comes days after Ukrainian Ambassador @MelnykAndrij told Musk to “fuck off.”
— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) October 14, 2022
The Ukrainian ambassador’s comments came after Musk pondered the possibility of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia that would see the recent referendums in the Donbas redone under the supervision of the United Nations.
Documents obtained by CNN indicate that a letter was sent by SpaceX to the Pentagon last month confirming that the company could not only continue to operate the Starlink terminals for free, but that no further terminal would be donated. Some 20,000 Starlink terminals were donated to Ukraine earlier this year, allowing the Ukrainian military and civilians access to the internet. The donations have reportedly cost SpaceX $80 million so far and will exceed $100 million by the end of this year.
“We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time,” Space’s director of government sales reportedly said in the letter.
Starlink Money Drama in Ukraine
The news presents a challenge for Ukraine as well as the United States. CNN also cited a document that revealed a previously unreported request from the Ukrainian military’s commanding general, General Valerii Zaluzhniy, for a further 8,000 Starlink terminals. Ukraine had hoped that SpaceX would be able to provide the terminals, and continue to support their operation, for free.
Ukrainian forces have enjoyed several advantages over the Russians in recent weeks. After launching a successful counter-offensive, the Ukrainian military took back control over previously occupied Ukrainian territories and push the Russian forces back to the border in some parts of the country. Russian forces are now regrouping, making “slow” progress in central Donbas, and tens of thousands of Russian reservists are making their way to eastern Ukraine. With this in mind, those Starlink systems could prove vital for Ukrainian forces.
Why Starlink Matters
Beyond providing internet access, Starlink has helped Ukrainian drones accurately drop bombs on Russian positions. The satellite internet system has even facilitated video calls between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other world leaders.
The White House, then, is now faced with a difficult decision – fund the Starlink systems with government money, or risk giving the Russians an advantage by continuing to pretend that Elon Musk doesn’t exist.
Why Did Elon Do It?
While it’s likely that Melnyk’s comments made Musk think twice about continuing to support Starlink in Ukraine, that probably isn’t the full story.
Musk’s suggestion that Ukraine should consider ceding some territory to Ukraine angered Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and it’s that belief in deescalating the conflict that could be behind Starlink’s letter to the Pentagon last month.
It could be true that Musk knows that the Biden White House is hostile to him, and it could well be the case that he knows the White House may think twice before paying for SpaceX services. If that’s the case, Musk could be betting that the U.S. government won’t continue to fund the terminals, and that Ukraine may come around to the idea of sitting down at the negotiating table with Moscow for a fresh round of talks.
If things were to pan out that way, though, it would require President Joe Biden to find a compelling justification for not spending tens of millions of dollars on critical infrastructure for Ukraine after already committing billions. That would be a hard sell.
Perhaps, then, it’s simply the case that SpaceX no longer wishes to spend substantial sums of money on providing support to a country whose leaders have insulted the CEO and dismissed the possibility of further negotiations. Knowing Kyiv’s position on Russia’s stated goals in Ukraine, it seems likely at this point that the White House will simply give in and pay to keep the Starlink systems running.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
