NEW YORK –
Billionaire Elon Musk steered in a Saturday tweet that his rocket firm SpaceX might proceed to fund its satellite-based Starlink web service in Ukraine. But Musk’s tone and wording additionally raised the chance that the irascible Tesla CEO was simply being sarcastic.
Musk regularly tweets jokes and insults and typically goes on uncommon tangents, comparable to a latest sequence of tweets suggesting that one among his firms has begun promoting its personal line of fragrances. It will not be clear if SpaceX has really established future plans for service in Ukraine.
On Friday, senior U.S. officers confirmed that Musk had formally requested the Defense Department to take over funding for the service Starlink offers in Ukraine. Starlink, which offers broadband web service utilizing greater than 2,200 low-orbiting satellites, has offered essential battlefield communications for Ukrainian army forces since early in the nation’s protection in opposition to Russia’s February invasion.
“The hell with it despite the fact that Starlink remains to be shedding cash & different firms are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll simply keep funding Ukraine govt without cost,“ Musk tweeted Saturday.
Early Friday, Musk tweeted that it was costing SpaceX $20 million a month to assist Ukraine’s communications wants. Tesla did not instantly reply to requests for remark.
The senior U.S. officers, who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate a delicate matter not but made public, stated the difficulty of Starlink funding has been mentioned in conferences and that senior leaders are weighing the matter. There have been no choices.