He Defense Department of the United States has purchased a series of assets from SpaceX, the space flight and satellite company founded and controlled by Elon Musk, in order to prevent the businessman from being able to cut the communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at will, as he did in 2022 to stop the advance of kyiv forces in the Kherson region and to abort a underwater drone attack against the Russian Black Sea Fleet, in Crimea.
The decision of the United States Department of Defense had was made public in Junealthough now it has come to light again after the unofficial biography of Musk written by the journalist Walter Isaacson has revealed what he did SpaceX in Jerson and Crimea. Since the chapter of the book that tells how Musk interrupted Ukrainian communications can be accessed, both the biographer and the biographer have launched a career of contradictory statements to try to explain the decision.
On Wednesday, Musk was questioned by a journalist from the British television network Sky who asked him in Washington: “Have your ego and ignorance cost lives in Ukraine?” Musk, who always stands out for giving his opinion on everything – from the war in Ukraine to the rescue of children trapped in a cave in Thailand or gender change operations – looked ahead and did not respond.
The operation affects the Starlink network, owned by SpaceX, which has more than 4,000 satellites in orbit around the Earth and provides data in remote locations as it does not require terrestrial antennas. The amount the Pentagon has paid for the systems has not been made public. But probably It is a good business for the largest space flight company in the world, SpaceX, which in 2022 placed more cargo into orbit than all the space agencies of the rest of the world states combined.
The operation also reveals how Musk has the State as a client and as a subsidizer: less than three years ago, Starlink requested a subsidy of 886 million dollars (831 million euros). When it was denied, he went to court.