SpaceX's Musk Eyes DOD Funding for Starlink Deployments in Ukraine

SpaceX "is not asking to recoup past expenses" for its deployment of its Starlink satellite broadband system in Ukraine, but it "also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely and send several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households," CEO Elon Musk tweeted Friday in response to reports he wants DOD to pay for the system's continued deployment there, since the cost could reach $400 million over the next 12 months. "This is unreasonable." In "addition to terminals, we have to create, launch, maintain & replenish satellites & ground stations & pay telcos for access to Internet via gateways,” he said: “We’ve also had to defend against cyberattacks & jamming, which are getting harder. Burn is approaching ~$20M/month.” Musk's comments followed Ukrainian military officials' claims earlier this month that Starlink outages have been hindering Ukraine’s ability to repel the Russian invasion (see 2210070082). DOD Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed during a Friday news conference the department has been in communication with SpaceX about the Starlink deployments but noted "there are other entities" besides that company that the U.S. can "partner with when it comes to providing Ukraine what they need on the battlefield. I'm not going to show our hand right now on exactly who those are or who we're talking to."