Musk says Starlink will keep providing free service to Ukraine
(2022/10/17)
- Reference: 1666015810
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/10/17/musk/
- Source link:
One problem of dealing with a prolifically tweeting billionaire is that the subjects of those mind burps can have the rug pulled from beneath them.
This weekend, Elon Musk, Earth's richest being, talked about the operations of SpaceX's Starlink, a broadband satellite constellation, in terms that could unsettle some.
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 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) [1]October 15, 2022
The comment can be interpreted as a joke or as a tacit threat to remove Starlink services from Ukraine due to the costs involved. [2]Starlink was previously refused an application by the Federal Communications Commission to receive subsidies to bring broadband to the masses in rural America.
Musk made the comment on October 15, a day after reports indicated that the [3]entrepreneur was not pleased by the overhead of dispatching base stations and providing services to war-torn Ukraine. It was reported by [4]CNN last week that Musk wants US taxpayers to pick up part of the bill.
In a letter reportedly sent by SpaceX last month to the Department of Defense, Musk wants the US military to start paying a share. The costs are estimated to be $120 million until the end of the year and $400 million for the following 12 months. These are substantial financial burdens for a private commercial entity to shoulder but then again, Musk did win plaudits for stepping in to help Ukraine.
[5]
"We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time," the letter to the Pentagon states, according to CNN. The letter was apparently sent in September.
[6]
[7]
On October 4, Musk said SpaceX had spent $80 million since launching in Ukraine – a number that is hard to verify – and he claimed Starlink is "far from cash flow positive."
[8]Starlink, shot by both sides in Ukrainian fracas, lives to fight on
[9]SpaceX reportedly fed up with providing free Starlink to Ukraine
[10]Musky scent? Billionaire launches fragrance: Burnt Hair
[11]Er, Musk's trial hasn't stopped, no matter what he told Twitter, says judge
He [12]added in response to last week's CNN story: "Also, Starlink is still losing money! It is insanely difficult for a LEO communications constellation to avoid bankruptcy – that was the fate of every company that tried this before."
Ukrainian General Valeri Zaluzhyni reportedly asked for an additional 8,000 Starlink terminals in July.
Musk has form for saying stock market-moving things on Twitter, such as [13]wanting to take Tesla private , [14]buying Twitter , and launching a fragrance called [15]Burnt Hair – the Essence of Repugnant Desire.
[16]
Not all of the things he says always hold up in the cold hard light of day, which makes it near impossible for corporations or – in the case of Ukraine – a country to know exactly will come to pass.
Musk must know the lack of clarity leaves room for a certain type to make their own mind up, and quipped in a follow-up tweet at the weekend: "The comments in this thread are a conspiracy theorist's wet dream." ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1581345747777179651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/11/fcc_starlink_rural_internet/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/14/spacex_reports/
[4] https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/13/politics/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-ukraine/index.html
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/17/opinion_column/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/14/spacex_reports/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/musk_launches_fragrance/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/05/musktwitter_twitter_trial/
[12] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1580809382958227458?s=20&t=hHcrft3I5ou5_ztmYCZFIw
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/15/musk_tweet_court/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/04/twitter_shares_frozen_on_musk/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/musk_launches_fragrance/
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
This weekend, Elon Musk, Earth's richest being, talked about the operations of SpaceX's Starlink, a broadband satellite constellation, in terms that could unsettle some.
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 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) [1]October 15, 2022
The comment can be interpreted as a joke or as a tacit threat to remove Starlink services from Ukraine due to the costs involved. [2]Starlink was previously refused an application by the Federal Communications Commission to receive subsidies to bring broadband to the masses in rural America.
Musk made the comment on October 15, a day after reports indicated that the [3]entrepreneur was not pleased by the overhead of dispatching base stations and providing services to war-torn Ukraine. It was reported by [4]CNN last week that Musk wants US taxpayers to pick up part of the bill.
In a letter reportedly sent by SpaceX last month to the Department of Defense, Musk wants the US military to start paying a share. The costs are estimated to be $120 million until the end of the year and $400 million for the following 12 months. These are substantial financial burdens for a private commercial entity to shoulder but then again, Musk did win plaudits for stepping in to help Ukraine.
[5]
"We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time," the letter to the Pentagon states, according to CNN. The letter was apparently sent in September.
[6]
[7]
On October 4, Musk said SpaceX had spent $80 million since launching in Ukraine – a number that is hard to verify – and he claimed Starlink is "far from cash flow positive."
[8]Starlink, shot by both sides in Ukrainian fracas, lives to fight on
[9]SpaceX reportedly fed up with providing free Starlink to Ukraine
[10]Musky scent? Billionaire launches fragrance: Burnt Hair
[11]Er, Musk's trial hasn't stopped, no matter what he told Twitter, says judge
He [12]added in response to last week's CNN story: "Also, Starlink is still losing money! It is insanely difficult for a LEO communications constellation to avoid bankruptcy – that was the fate of every company that tried this before."
Ukrainian General Valeri Zaluzhyni reportedly asked for an additional 8,000 Starlink terminals in July.
Musk has form for saying stock market-moving things on Twitter, such as [13]wanting to take Tesla private , [14]buying Twitter , and launching a fragrance called [15]Burnt Hair – the Essence of Repugnant Desire.
[16]
Not all of the things he says always hold up in the cold hard light of day, which makes it near impossible for corporations or – in the case of Ukraine – a country to know exactly will come to pass.
Musk must know the lack of clarity leaves room for a certain type to make their own mind up, and quipped in a follow-up tweet at the weekend: "The comments in this thread are a conspiracy theorist's wet dream." ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1581345747777179651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/11/fcc_starlink_rural_internet/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/14/spacex_reports/
[4] https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/13/politics/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-ukraine/index.html
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/17/opinion_column/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/14/spacex_reports/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/musk_launches_fragrance/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/05/musktwitter_twitter_trial/
[12] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1580809382958227458?s=20&t=hHcrft3I5ou5_ztmYCZFIw
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/15/musk_tweet_court/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/04/twitter_shares_frozen_on_musk/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/musk_launches_fragrance/
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y018F6ae9HKD5k3cJAVRSgAAABE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Thunderf00t is a wazzock...
The Indomitable Gall
Thunderf00t may be an irritating blowhard, but he's good with numbers.
Here, he discusses Musk's figures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qGg6wiXoSc&t=620s
Summary: Musk's alleged "costs" seem to be ticket price rather than cost price. Thunderf00t speculates that this is creative accounting aimed at turning it into a massive tax write-down that will be net profit for SpaceX. He also speculates that SpaceX may be in the financial trouble that Musk himself predicted not too long ago...
Re: Thunderf00t is a wazzock...
iron
It is worse than that, he's also charging the US gov double the cost to consumers.
Universal Service Fund
Paul Hovnanian
Musk's comment may indeed have been triggered by the refusal by our FCC to fund Starlink rural access. But what he needs to understand is that this fund was negotiated between the US government and the incumbent telecoms. For the benefit of the latter. It is not to be shared with newcomers who might seek to put up a few microwave towers. Or satellites.
The FCC rejected Starkink's application, claiming that they failed to demonstrate the ability to provide the promised service. Well, Ukraine can serve as that demonstration. But it won't matter. Because the telecoms have repeatedly failed to demonstrate the same sorts of service delivery despite the reciept of piles of cash.
u-turn
nearly as spectacular as the current double and triple u-turns in the UK's budget :)
But what interests me re. Musk is whether he got a phone-call to make him see the light (aka 'the broader picture'), or whether he was persuaded during a... personal meeting ;)