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(Bloomberg) — The Pentagon disclosed that its contract to deploy Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals in Ukraine is worth $23 million, finally putting a dollar figure on the deal that has helped one of the world’s richest men fight the Russia conflict. Sometimes for my own sake. Grief
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the details of the contract had not been previously disclosed, described the service as an important part of the US’s security assistance to Ukraine. SpaceX’s contract to supply Starlink communications terminals ran from June last year until next month, and the official declined to say whether it would be renewed.
The US declined to disclose the size of the contract after Bloomberg News exposed the arrangement last year. Asked what had changed, the official pointed to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Defense Daily, a Washington defense-trade newspaper.
Read more: How Musk’s Starlink sparked a new kind of space race: QuickTake
US military officials have praised the role portable Starlink terminals have played in Ukraine in keeping the civilian population connected since the Russian invasion and providing vital communications for the country’s military.
Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in May 2022 that Ukraine had received 10,000 Starlink terminals that are providing critical communications infrastructure during the war with Russia.
That $23 million is a pittance compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has won in becoming the lead partner in launching some of America’s most sensitive national-security satellites. But Musk has expressed ambivalence over Ukraine’s use of the terminals, saying they are for private use, not military use.
In a tweet last year he said Starlink “is Ukraine’s communications backbone, especially on the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not allow an escalation of a conflict that could lead to World War III.” ”
At one point, Musk threatened to cut off financial support for Starlink in Ukraine, saying his company could not indefinitely afford the cost of high-speed broadband internet for the country. He also upset the Biden administration by introducing a peace proposal in 2022 that would require Ukraine to remain neutral, hand over Crimea to Russia and hold re-elections in areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
(Updated with details of Starlink use in Ukraine.)
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Published: April 10, 2024, 02:33 am IST
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