At least 1,300 of Ukraine's military satellite units dependent on Elon Musk's Starlink internet went offline, cutting off a crucial source of the country's communications infrastructure amid its ongoing war with Russia, according to a report by CNN.
The small, user-friendly satellite dishes produced by Elon Musk's SpaceX have been praised as an innovative means of communication for the Ukrainian military, enabling it to fight and maintain connectivity even as cellular and internet networks have been severely damaged because of the war.
But recently, worries about SpaceX's dependability have grown when funding-related negotiations were made public and disruptions were observed close to the front lines.
(Photo : Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)
BOCA CHICA BEACH, TX - AUGUST 25: SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks during a T-Mobile and SpaceX joint event on August 25, 2022 in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. The two companies announced plans to work together to provide T-Mobile cellular service using Starlink satellites.
Huge Challenge for Ukraine
According to CNN's report, an anonymous source familiar with the situation said that the latest outage occurred on October 24. The person that this is a huge challenge for Ukraine's military since the terminals are now offline due to a funding shortfall.
A British company sold the 1,300 terminals to Ukraine in March. According to CNN, which also cited the aforementioned unnamed source, SpaceX was billing the Ukrainian government $2,500 per terminal per month.
This is significantly more than the $110 per month that SpaceX charges regular Starlink users, but less than the $5,000 per month that is charged by Starlink Maritime, another specialized service, to cover ships at sea, according to Space.com.
The Ukrainian defense department anticipated the outage and made an effort to stop it by requesting British military officials' permission to begin paying the debt in early October. However, the British finally chose to refocus their assistance for Ukraine on different means, according to CNN.
SpaceX and Defense Department Talks
Despite Musk's earlier statement that SpaceX withdrew its proposal, a senior defense official says that talks between SpaceX and the Defense Department are still ongoing.
Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, recently stated that Ukraine is home to roughly 25,000 Starlink terminals.
However, it is still unknown how many of them are controlled by the Ukrainian government, but it may be a small number given that, according to CNN, the country's commander-in-chief told Musk in a letter in July that only 4,000 terminals had been installed by the military.
According to Musk, SpaceX has long provided financial support for Ukraine's Starlink service. The billionaire said in a tweet from last month, for instance, that SpaceX is losing $20 million a month on Starlink in Ukraine "due to unpaid service & costs related to enhanced security measures for cyberwar defense."
Related Article: Elon Musk Has Withdrawn Request to the Pentagon to Fund Starlink Internet Terminals in Ukraine
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Written by Jace Dela Cruz
