Elon Musk Makes An About Face On Starlink Funding For Ukraine

Musk released a tweet shortly after 2 pm on Saturday saying “The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.” The other companies he’s referring to may be defense contractors that the U.S. Government regularly purchases weapons and ammunition from. These include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing. The United States government and several European nations have supplied Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of equipment. Some of that equipment was part of those nations’ defense stockpiles, while other items were purchased new. The supplies given to Ukraine include small arms and ammunition, both armed and reconnaissance drones, and defensive systems designed to counteract missiles, planes, and Russian drones.

However, it has been reported that the U.S. government is, in fact, contributing heavily to the upkeep of the Starlink system in Ukraine. Uncle Sam may be covering as much as 30% of the Eastern European nation’s internet connectivity, and, along with its allies, could have paid for up to 85% of the terminals sent to the war torn country. While there is nothing to directly suggest the Tweet isn’t serious, there is a chance Musk may again perform a U-turn on the Starlink issue. The world’s richest man has a history of changing his mind in high-profile situations. His ongoing attempted acquisition of Twitter is recent evidence of that.