Musk said on Twitter that US billionaire Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX is losing about $20 million a month by providing its satellite internet service to Ukraine.
Still, he continues to pay the bill for the Starlink internet terminals in the country.
The company does not receive any money from the US Department of Defense for providing the service, “but we will continue to do so,” according to the billionaire, whose combined holdings are currently worth $208 billion, according to Bloomberg, still making him the richest man in the world…
Last week, Musk asked the US government to help because SpaceX can no longer bear the costs. But, at the same time, Musk also emphasized that he would keep the service free. So it seems Musk likes to make it clear that he pays the bill.
Its approximately 20,000 terminals allow Ukraine to continue communicating via satellite when mobile phone networks and internet connections fail due to the war. The operation has already cost SpaceX about $80 million.
Musk’s reactions come after the company lost a heavy subsidy of nearly $900 million this summer to provide internet in remote areas. That was previously assigned but withdrawn in August after the US regulator FCC ruled that SpaceX, which orbits the Starlink satellites, does not meet the requirements and that the speeds it promises are declining again.
