Bloomberg: Elon Musk to receive Pentagon money for Starlink for Ukraine

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, has received a contract from the US Department of Defense for Starlink for Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. The terminals will be purchased with money allocated by the US Congress.

The wholesale purchase of the terminals will be funded by the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which was created in the United States to ensure that our country’s long-term defense needs are met.

Last year in December, the US Department of Defense announced that it would provide Ukraine with «terminals and satellite communications services,» but did not confirm that Musk’s company would receive the contract. «We continue to work with a range of global partners to provide Ukraine with the resilient satellite and communications capabilities it needs,» the Pentagon said at the time.

At the same time, the department noted that satellite communications are vital to Ukraine’s overall communications network, which is why «the department has contracted with Starlink to provide these services.»

Last October, SpaceX announced that it would not pay for Starlink’s communications services for Ukraine and asked the Pentagon to cover these costs. At the time, the company noted that such funding should cost about $ 400 million over 12 months. However, Musk later changed his mind and said that he would continue to pay for communication services for Ukraine.

Since the start of the war, Ukraine has already received 42,000 Starlink terminals, which provide communications for energy, medical and military personnel.

In early June, Starlink satellites were launched in a test mode on Ukrainian trains. Representatives of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ukrzaliznytsia are testing the use of the terminals in Intercity trains and on diplomatic flights.