Did Elon Musk really lose $80 million helping Ukraine?

In the midst of some amateur politics, Musk claimed that his company lost more than 80 million dollars in connection with the internet in the midst of a Russian invasion.

It doesn't jibe with what we know about Starlink, the satellite network that has been built to deliver broadband from space. Starlink is burning more cash than we know and Musk is exaggerating his company's contribution to the conflict.

The figure wasn't responded to by the company.

So what’s going on with Starlink in Ukraine?

The American international development agency said in April that it had delivered 5,000 user terminals toUkraine. The controversy stems from the fact that the US Agency for International Development originally said it purchased the terminals but edited its press release and won't respond to inquiries about what happened. Europe has delivered terminals as well, according to other reports.

There are tens of thousands of terminals in Ukranian. The cost to manufacture each terminal is about 1,500. One crowd-sourced database suggests that Ukrainians might be paying $60 a month for Starlink in the US.

It is assumed that the cost of the terminals is $30 million and for eight months of service is $2 million.

Where does it come from? Simulations and reports on the ground suggest the Starlink network doesn't have a lot of capacity in Ukraine, so that's unlikely. There is a chance that the subsidy of the terminals and service is more than the company has said. The Starlink is far from cash flow positive.

It is1-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-6556 The internet can be accessed via Starlink's satellite network. Eastern European ground stations could have been put to use to add capacity inUkraine. The company probably planned those investments in the future.

It is possible that Musk just needed a good number.