FACT: Operating Starlink in Ukraine costs Elon $100 million [1]. FACT: The USGOV only gave SpaceX $3 million for equipment sent to Ukraine [2].
Quart @ Quart @lemmy.world Posts 0Comments 6Joined 2 yr. ago
Quart @ Quart @lemmy.world
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Your sources are 11 months and 17 months old. I don't think that refutes your basic argument, but it does certainly cause me to doubt the specific $3M figure. For example here is an article from 6/2023 that describes a new contract between SpaceX and USDoD: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-buys-starlink-ukraine-statement-2023-06-01/
It doesn't include costs, but it's hard to believe a new contract wouldn't increase the $3M originally paid last year.
It's also interesting to consider the marketing impact of donating terminals and service to Ukraine. Does that drive paid service in other parts of the world that exceeds the cost of operations in Ukraine? I think that data is not likely to be available outside SpaceX, although Wikipedia does list pretty steady growth of subscriber numbers (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Subscribers). So Musk's support of Ukraine may not be entirely altruistic.