Hard to know how to react to Elon Musk's recent warning that he can't continue funding his Starlink satellite broadband internet service for Ukraine.
Starlink has indeed been vital in Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion, helping it to reboot its infrastructure after Russian missile strikes, for example. The service Musk has been providing to Ukraine free of charge, almost since the start of the war, apparently costs about US$20 a month - in terminals, ground stations and replenishing satellites - and Musk estimates he has sucked up about $80 million in charges already.
That's a lot of money. But then, Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, worth an estimated $255 billion. He makes about $11 million EVERY DAY, and recently offered to buy up Twitter for $44 billion, apparently on a whim (or at least as a vanity project). So, really, $20 million (or $100 million, or more) is pretty much pocket change for him.
Musk has suggested that the US Pentagon should be picking up the bill for his Starlink services to Ukraine, which is maybe reasonable. But what people will take issue with is the way he says that he "cannot" fund the existing system indefinitely. "Cannot" or "will not"? Or just "should not". As usual Musk's communication skills have let him down.
UPDATE
In typical Musk form, the very next day he announced that SpaceX will continue to fund Starlink internet terminals for the Ukrainian government after all: "the hell with it ... we'll just keep funding Uklraine gov't for free". Could ya do it with any more bad grace, Elon?
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