
Please try another search
(Reuters) - The Pentagon is considering paying for Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network in war-torn Ukraine, Politico reported on Monday, citing two U.S. officials involved in the discussions.
The most likely source of funding would be the U.S. Department of Defense Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, designed to support the country as it fights Russia, the report added.
Musk had said on Friday that SpaceX could not indefinitely fund Starlink in Ukraine, but backtracked over the weekend to assert the rocket company would continue to fund the service in the country.
He said in a tweet on Monday that SpaceX had already withdrawn its request for funding, an acknowledgement that such a request was made.
A Pentagon spokesman said the Defense Department would not speculate on future security assistance announcements before they occur.
A separate report in the Financial Times said the European Union was also weighing funding Starlink in Ukraine, citing three officials with knowledge of the decision.
Musk, the world's richest person and chief executive of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc, recently said SpaceX spends nearly $20 million a month for maintaining satellite services in Ukraine and that the company has spent about $80 million to enable and support Starlink there.
"To be precise, 25,300 terminals were sent to Ukraine, but, at present, only 10,630 are paying for service," Musk tweeted on Monday.
Starlink has helped Ukraine's civilians and military stay online during the war, with Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov last week saying Starlink's services helped restore energy and communications infrastructure in critical areas.
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.