In the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Starlink had a moment in the spotlight when its billionaire founder pledged to help the country stay connected with the rest of the world.
The U.S. taxpayers were responsible for millions of dollars of Musk's Starlink donation.
According to a new report in the Washington Post, the US Agency for International Development spent $2 million on 1,333 Starlink terminals to send to Ukraine. 3,667 more terminals were sent by the company and they delivered service to them.
The transportation costs for these terminals were paid by the US Agency for International Development. The U.S. taxpayers paid more than $3 million to SpaceX.
It is a far cry from the original comments made by the company.
At the Satellite 2022 conference in Washington DC last month, the president of the company said he was proud that they were able to give the terminals to people in Ukraine.
The arrangement that saw 5,000 Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine was classified by the agency as a public-private partnership.
Space reporter Joey Roulette noticed that the original version of the statement on the website was edited to remove the $10 million claim.
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The Starlink deliveries were made possible by a range of stakeholders, whose combined contributions valued over $15 million and enabled the procurement, international flights, on-the-ground transportation, and satellite Internet service of 5,000 Starlink terminals.
There are a few questions that remain. Did Starlink sign a deal with the US Agency for International Development? Did the agency overpay for the terminals? A basic Starlink package costs more than $500. The premium kit comes with an antenna, a tripod, and a wireless internet connection. The agency paid per terminal again. The Washington Post reported that the company did not respond to questions about pricing.
This isn't the first time that Musk's companies have received funding from the U.S. government. The FCC awarded $886 million to SpaceX in order to improve rural broadband with Starlink. Billions of dollars in government funding have been given toTesla.
Ukrainians were worried about their ability to communicate with the rest of the world when Russia invaded their country.
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The Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov received a personal plea for help from the founder of SpaceX.
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It is not clear how much Starlink has helped. He did it with the help of the U.S. government. A major assist from the U.S. taxpayer.
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