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Billionaire Elon Musk said in a Saturday tweet that his rocket company SpaceX may continue to fund its satellite Starlink internet service in Ukraine.
But his tone and phrasing also raised the possibility that the Tesla boss was just being sarcastic.
Mr. Musk regularly tweets jokes and insults, sometimes posting unusual tangents, such as a recent series of tweets suggesting that one of his companies has started selling its own line of fragrances.
It is unclear whether SpaceX actually has future plans for service in Ukraine.
On Friday, senior U.S. officials confirmed that Mr. Musk had formally asked the Defense Department to take over funding for services provided by Starlink in Ukraine.
Starlink, which uses more than 2,200 low-orbit satellites to provide broadband internet service, has provided Ukrainian forces with critical battlefield communications since the early days of the country’s defenses against a Russian invasion in February.
“Hell…even though Starlink is still losing money and other companies are taking billions from taxpayers, we will continue to fund the Ukrainian government for free,” Musk tweeted Saturday.
Earlier on Friday, Musk tweeted that SpaceX was spending $20 million (£17.8 million) a month to support Ukraine’s communications needs. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Senior U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue that has not been made public, said the issue of Starlink funding had been discussed at the meeting and that senior leaders were weighing the matter.
Nothing is decided.
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