The reason for the shutdown is likely a payment issue, despite Musk’s promise not to shut down the devices.
At the end of October, delays began in Ukraine in the operation of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite communication terminals from SpaceX – this concerns 1,300 devices that Ukraine bought from a British company in March and used for operations military This was reported on Friday, November 4 by CNN, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
The recent closure of terminals in Ukraine began on October 24, according to one of the interlocutors of the publication – due to lack of funds.
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The outage concerned a batch of 1,300 terminals that Ukraine bought from a British company in March and used for war-related operations.
SpaceX charges the Ukrainian military $2,500 a month to communicate with each of the 1,300 terminals, pushing the total through September to nearly $20 million. Eventually, the ability to pay for services ended.
Before the terminals went completely offline, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry asked its British counterparts in early October to pay a monthly bill of $3.25 million. A British official said that after discussions between ministries, “it was decided that there is a higher priority military capability.”
“We maintain a number of terminals that are of direct tactical use to the Ukrainian military in repelling a Russian invasion,” a British official told CNN. “We evaluate and prioritize all new requests in terms of impact contribution in supporting Ukraine in protecting its people from Putin’s heinous aggression.”
A senior Ukrainian official confirmed the shutdown to CNN, calling the Starlink satellites “very important” in the war against Russia.
According to SpaceX, there are almost 20,000 Starlink terminals in Ukraine, most of which were obtained in whole or in part with external funding, especially from the governments of the United States, Poland and the United Kingdom.
Remember, on October 14, Musk announced that he had decided to refuse to finance Starlink in Ukraine, but changed his mind the next day.
The Pentagon took up the issue of funding Starlink satellites in Ukraine – media
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.