CNN: Musk's SpaceX says it can no longer pay for critical satellite services in Ukraine, asks

[sprinkleeninow]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/13/politics/elon-musk-spacex-starlink-ukraine/index.html

[usonian]

1. Saving his pennies to buy Twitter.

Last edited Thu Oct 13, 2022, 10:17 PM - Edit history (1)

GROW UP AND DO AT LEAST ONE GOOD THING IN YOUR SORRY LIFE.

Other people can and do make electric cars, and did so before you did.

[Hugin]

6. Or maybe...

He’s getting funding from the Kremlin to buy Twitter.

[relayerbob]

9. Fuck him. Take this out of his hands

People's lives depend on him NOT being involved

[Carlitos Brigante]

23. Not to get too picky here. But he really hasn't invented anything, that I know of. nt

[usonian]

26. You bet. He manufactures. I'll change that.

Most companies buy designs. Or steal them. People aren't aware of that. Excel, PowerPoint, whatever. I remember when they were other companies' products.

[TheBlackAdder]

52. Musk's bullshit because the satellites are already in service, unless he wants to redirect to Russia

.

When you mention pennies, that's exactly what it is.

Unless he also wants to repurpose the transmitters to the satellites.

.

[Lovie777]

2. I thought the USA is footing the bill .....

[relayerbob]

8. Only part

[Hekate]

3. In effect, blinding the country, then extorting them & us

Whatta swell guy

[Amishman]

38. He might be nuts, but he's been very generous with this until now

He provided roughly 100 million in absolutely essential services and hardware to Ukraine in their time of need.

Asking to be paid in full from here out seems reasonable.

Musk might be an asshole about a lot of things, but this isn't one.

[Disaffected]

47. That's right.

We do see a lot of "what have you done for me lately?" here.

[SheltieLover]

4. Pootin doesn't like it

[brush]

5. He's siding with Putin. The Ukrainians were using those

starlink satellites for missile guidance and Musk knows it.

The richest man in the world suddenly can't afford it.

Yeah, ok.

[Disaffected]

13. The Ukrainians were using those starlink satellites for missile guidance and Musk knows it."

Sources?? Why would they depend on StarLink satellites when GPS satellites do the job?

I don't even see how that could work - for one, have you seem the size of the StarLink antennae (vs GPS)?

[brush]

19. There was a post on here a couple of days ago about it.

It talked about Musk possibly siding with Putin. He has actually suggested Ukraine should negotiate with Putin...which of course could mean giving up territory to the Russians.

Musk seems to now be trying his hand at geopolitics.

[Disaffected]

27. OK but I was wondering about the

using Starlink for missile guidance - how would that work?

[brush]

29. You'd have to get that from military/experts.

[BannonsLiver]

21. Which Tesla model do you own?

[Disaffected]

33. All of them.

And Elon is my inspiration and hero.

[Disaffected]

32. Actually a lot of tablets and phones have GPS connectivity.

And GPS missile and other airborne weapons guidance is very common. What is your point anyhow??

[PortTack]

45. Here's why gps isn't working for Ukraine on the battlefield and why spaceX is so vital

Jammers from Russian forces besieging the country are targeting global positioning system (GPS) satellite signals that are used for navigation, mapping and other purposes, the report said, quoting the U.S. Space Force.

"Ukraine may not be able to use GPS because there are jammers around that prevent them from receiving any usable signal," Gen. David Thompson, the Space Force's vice chief of space operations

https://www.space.com/russia-jamming-gps-signals-ukraine

[Disaffected]

49. That's as may be but,

it does not explain how StarLink can supplement or replace GPS - they are two distinctly different systems, GPS mainly for geolocation and StarLink for internet connectivity.

[MerryBlooms]

34. I have trouble just signing out for my time card.

If often have to get in my car and drive down a block or two, just to sign out on my work hours! There are dates, I'm a half hour overtime, bec

[MerryBlooms]

35. I have trouble just signing out for my time card.

If often have to get in my car and drive down a block or two, just to sign out on my work hours! There are dates, I'm a half hour overtime, because I couldn't get a sign

[MerryBlooms]

36. I have trouble just signing out for my time card.

If often have to get in my car and drive down a block or two, just to sign out on my work hours! There are dates, I'm a half hour overtime, because I couldn't get a signal to clock out. So then, I get notifications from the state Medicaid, I fix it or don't get paid. I have told case managers, NO, YOU FIX IT. I am always at work, worked June to October with a total of 4 days off! I enter my time, your app messes up, YOU FIX IT. So fuckin sick of dealing with NO internet, just to punch a fuckin time card!

I can't even imagine buried under this bullshit trying to fight for life or death in a war.

Musk is being paid. Our tax dollars are paying. Renegotiate payments, whatever it takes. Then, get fuckin internet up, so I can record my work hours, without driving down the block! Then, remove the penalties I get for being over my allotted time! I guess Ukraine and Medicaid, are both, fuckin rocket science.

And, on my wish list... Declare emergency for home caregivers!! We Need Help! Increase pay, incentives, whatever it takes. Government needs to start taking an active role in recruiting.

Sorry for the rant, and mostly inappropriate rant, but I am just fed up. Musk wants gazillion dollars upon his gazillion dollars, to do the right thing. Save a democracy. Musk is gonna bail, because he doesn't give a fuck, unless it involves more money from taxpayers.

[sir pball]

39. Yes, that's exactly how GPS functions. It doesn't require any form of data network.

You don't seem to be very familiar with the technology. The Wiki page is a good starting point, cheers!

[PortTack]

46. See post #45...

It’s not as simple as you’re making it out to be.

Familiar with technology and the bugs it may have in a critical area like a battlefield?

[relayerbob]

7. Do it!

Take his ability to influence the operation of those systems away from him.

Immediately. If I was in the decision loop, I'd be like, here's my credit card, take my money already. Remove ANY contact between SpaceX and the operations of those satellite services.

[Historic NY]

10. And we pay him billions

[Enter stage left]

11. You greedy traitorous MF'er...

according to latest reports*, you...YOU...YOU are making around $650 million a day. $650,000,000 a fucking day.

FUCK YOU, FUCK TESLA, FUCK STARLINK, FUCK SPACEX.

FUCK YOU ALL, AND FUCK EVERYONE THAT IS SUPPORTING HIM WHILE HE TRIES TO STEAL OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO OUR MILITARY.

*https//capitalcounselor.com

[texasfiddler]

12. He needs the Russian Aluminum. Can't have this war dragging on now that Ukraine is having success.

[link:https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-considering-complete-ban-russian-aluminum-bloomberg-2022-10-12/|

[crickets]

14. What a pathetically transparent, evil desertion of Ukraine. nt

[Lovie777]

15. There are other alternatives....

[Disaffected]

16. I'm not sure why he should pick up the tab,

how many other aerospace/defense contractors/manufactures are donating goods and services to the effort?

[PortTack]

22. Bayraktar for one. A Turkish co. that donated several of their drones to the Ukrainian cause.

And I guarantee you those drones cost a whole hell of a lot more than his service of starlink. I wish that asshole would go back to South Africa. All of the NATO countries are donating some military defense, some will be paid back but some is a gift.

Ppl and companies from around the world who love freedom are stepping up to support Ukraine and have a lot less than that rich mofo!

Good gawd!

The musk hero worship is sick

[Disaffected]

30. Sure, countries are donating a lot of hardware and expertise

but not so many companies I would expect (and donating "several" drones is fine but may also be because it advertises the stuff to other potential buyers).

Anyhow, your allusion that my previous comment is tantamount to Musk hero worship is an unwarranted and cheap shot (unless I miss the intent of that comment).

[PortTack]

44. Here ya go

https://www.hmenews.com/article/growing-list-of-companies-donate-to-ukraine

https://www.tactical-life.com/news/us-companies-supporting-ukraine/

And you think musk did not advertise his stuff that the US government paid for?

[BlueIdaho]

17. Corporations are Countries my friend.

At least in Musk’s mind. He’s playing world shaper dictator now.

[Red Mountain]

18. It's not costing him much

to maintain service over Ukraine. The satellites either are transmitting/receiving while transiting the region or they are not. Lots of countries like Russia, for instance, same deal. Who pays while they fly over Russia, China or the Pacific doing nothing? What does it really cost to send or receive a data packet? What does it cost compared to doing nothing?

The Pentagon could be his biggest customer (probably already is for launch services). I'm all for them picking up the tab if we have more of a say in how Starlink provides service in regions where free access to the internet is limited by authoritarian regimes.

And Elon seems to want a little plausible deniability.

OK, we'll pay for Ukraine. That includes Crimea, obviously.

Right?

[BannonsLiver]

20. Russian operative. Will now add that to his list of personal flaws.

[Dorian Gray]

24. His hair plugs are taking up all his spare cash?

[superpatriotman]

25. SEC can halt trading in Tesla stock

And he will be worth little to nothing.

[moondust]

31. First one's free!

And now that you're addicted...



Any chance that NATO countries would split some of the costs?

[LowerManhattanite]

37. Nothing this craven son of Apartheid does...

…surprises me in his siding with dictators, warlords, oligarchs and demagogues.

[Sympthsical]

40. Sigh, another day of playing "Maybe read the article?"

People are acting like Musk is pulling Starlink out of the Ukraine.

Reading the article, he wants the American government to pick up the tab on it. Right now, SpaceX has been funding it out of pocket.

There's an argument to be had about Musk being rich enough, etc., but we don't generally call for corporations to privately fund war massive war efforts.

SpaceX is asking the government for money. They're not sabotaging Ukraine.

Seriously. Read. The. Article.

[jcgoldie]

50. No they have not been funding it

85% of spacex exorbitant prices have been funded by government entities this is just an attempt by Musk to profit from the war as he pretends to be doing charity work.

[edhopper]

41. Reading the whole article

SpaceX has not paid for most of the terminals and he is greatly inflating the cost of the service. He is trying to extort the pentagon for more money.
He is a liar.

[jcgoldie]

48. Excerpt... fuck elon musk

Though Musk has received widespread acclaim and thanks for responding to requests for Starlink service to Ukraine right as the war was starting, in reality, the vast majority of the 20,000 terminals have received full or partial funding from outside sources, including the US government, the UK and Poland, according to the SpaceX letter to the Pentagon.

SpaceX’s request that the US military foot the bill has rankled top brass at the Pentagon, with one senior defense official telling CNN that SpaceX has “the gall to look like heroes” while having others pay so much and now presenting them with a bill for tens of millions per month.

[Autumn]

42. I laugh when these rich motherfuckers whine about their lack of money.

[David__77]

43. It's a capitalist system.

And a pretty monopolized one at that. I guess someone can pay the price demanded.

[Javaman]

51. Deport him nt

[48656c6c6f20]

53. Denaturalization