Musk Says SpaceX Losing $20 Million a Month on Starlink Internet in Ukraine

Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington on March 9, 2020. Susan Walsh/AP Photo

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk said that SpaceX is losing around $20 million a month on providing its Starlink satellite internet to Ukraine, while the Pentagon confirmed it has not paid the company any money for the service.

Musk said in an Oct. 19 post on Twitter that his rocket company is losing approximately $20 million a month from unpaid service and costs related to security measures for cyberwar defense but added that “we'll keep doing it (sigh).”

“No money from DoD, but several other countries, orgs & individuals are paying for ~11k/25k terminals,” Musk said.

The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that it had not paid SpaceX anything for providing Ukraine with the Starlink service, which has reportedly been an important factor in maintaining communications by the Ukrainian military as it battles Russian forces.

Department of Defense (DoD) press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told a press conference on Oct. 18 that the Pentagon had no comment on Musk’s announcement that SpaceX would continue to pick up the tab for Starlink in Ukraine.

“What an individual company may or may not do in any particular corner of the world of course is incumbent on that company to decide and do,” Ryder said.

Ryder added that the Pentagon “has not paid SpaceX any money at this stage” but that discussions between the DoD and the company are ongoing regarding the “broader issue of providing satellite communication” to Ukraine.

“Any type of service that the DOD is going to be funding, there’s a process by which we would go through to look at contracting and acquisition requirements and how we would do that,” Ryder said, suggesting the idea of Pentagon funding for Starlink isn’t off the table.

Asked about Musk’s remark that SpaceX had withdrawn its request to the Pentagon for funding for Starlink, Ryder referred the matter to the rocket company but added that “we do continue to have discussions with SpaceX officials and others, in terms of providing satellite communications to Ukraine.”

Musk has appealed for donations to help foot the bill for providing Ukraine with Starlink, which came after he said the company couldn’t keep funding the service “indefinitely.”

The Tesla chief said SpaceX would be rolling out a donation feature so peoeple could help fund the provision of Starlink to places in need.

SpaceX has so far donated around 20,000 Starlink units to Ukraine, with Musk saying in a post on Twitter that the move has cost the rocket company $80 million so far and would climb to over $100 million by the end of the year.

Days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, Musk announced that the Starlink satellite internet service was being provided to Ukrainians.

While Starlink delivered an information lifeline to darkened swaths of the war-torn country, it also served as a link to enable Ukrainian military drones to target Russian tanks and positions more effectively.