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Is this extortion? I thought StarLink is a business, not a charity. As I understand it, Musk is asking for someone to pay for the Ukraine service… although I ad

Is this extortion? I thought StarLink is a business, not a charity. As I understand it, Musk is asking for someone to pay for the Ukraine service… although I admit I may not know the whole story.

FireBeyond 4y ago
The US government is paying for services, so is the Ukrainian. As is USAID. Ukraine wants a $500/month service. Musk/Starlink wants them to be on the $4,500/month service and is complaining that they're "losing money" because they're not. Oh, and they want to continue being paid for services for terminals that have been destroyed (because, y'know, war).
- viczsaszbo 4y ago
  SpaceX pays for service of ~14k terminals out of 25k and wartime service uses a lot more resources than regular business or residential grade. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1582523481345835008 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1582523481345835008
  - shaklee3 4y ago
    by choice. if you want the media attention for your good Samaritan act when you send them, you also get the negative attention when you renege.
    - s1artibartfast 4y ago
      Which should balance out, leaving the fact that he is still providing an invaluable service to the paying customer
- anvuong 4y ago
  I doubt the 500$/month plan would be able to withstand the cyber warfare waged by Russia. Encryption and anti jamming is not cheap.
wmf 4y ago
Starlink Premium service is $500/month but SpaceX is asking $4,500/month in Ukraine. There may be some justification for this but it looks like a bait-and-switch.
- modeless 4y ago
  Starlink Premium is still for fixed service, not mobile. Even Starlink RV is not for use while in motion. Starlink's mobile offerings are Starlink Maritime for $5k/mo and Starlink Aviation for $12-25k/mo. $4500/mo seems totally justifiable given the military use. By the normal standards of military contracting, it's a veritable bargain. SpaceX is continuously defending against Russian hackers now that Ukraine is relying on them so heavily, and also developing methods to resist jamming. Probably a significant fraction of all people working on Starlink are dealing with this stuff in one way or another.
- mlindner 4y ago
  And the service of the post you're responding to is $15,000-$24,000/month. Given that the service operating in areas where there are no or limited groundstations available, this is actually more equivalent to the maritime service, which runs at $5,000/month.

Is this extortion? I thought StarLink is a business, not a charity. As I understand it, Musk is asking for someone to pay for the Ukraine service… although I admit I may not know the whole story.

FireBeyond 4y ago

The US government is paying for services, so is the Ukrainian. As is USAID. Ukraine wants a $500/month service. Musk/Starlink wants them to be on the $4,500/month service and is complaining that they're "losing money" because they're not. Oh, and they want to continue being paid for services for terminals that have been destroyed (because, y'know, war).

viczsaszbo 4y ago
SpaceX pays for service of ~14k terminals out of 25k and wartime service uses a lot more resources than regular business or residential grade. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1582523481345835008 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1582523481345835008
- shaklee3 4y ago
  by choice. if you want the media attention for your good Samaritan act when you send them, you also get the negative attention when you renege.
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    Which should balance out, leaving the fact that he is still providing an invaluable service to the paying customer
anvuong 4y ago
I doubt the 500$/month plan would be able to withstand the cyber warfare waged by Russia. Encryption and anti jamming is not cheap.

wmf 4y ago

Starlink Premium service is $500/month but SpaceX is asking $4,500/month in Ukraine. There may be some justification for this but it looks like a bait-and-switch.

modeless 4y ago
Starlink Premium is still for fixed service, not mobile. Even Starlink RV is not for use while in motion. Starlink's mobile offerings are Starlink Maritime for $5k/mo and Starlink Aviation for $12-25k/mo. $4500/mo seems totally justifiable given the military use. By the normal standards of military contracting, it's a veritable bargain. SpaceX is continuously defending against Russian hackers now that Ukraine is relying on them so heavily, and also developing methods to resist jamming. Probably a significant fraction of all people working on Starlink are dealing with this stuff in one way or another.
mlindner 4y ago
And the service of the post you're responding to is $15,000-$24,000/month. Given that the service operating in areas where there are no or limited groundstations available, this is actually more equivalent to the maritime service, which runs at $5,000/month.