Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov addresses a news conference November 3 at Web Summit 2022.
Horacio Villalobos | Getty Images
The Ukrainian government is looking for alternatives to Starlink, the satellite internet arm of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Thursday.
Musk’s continued support for Starlink in Ukraine was questioned last month when the billionaire said his space company could no longer fund the operation in Ukraine “indefinitely.” He has since said he will continue to do so.
During a press conference Thursday at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon, Portugal, Fedorov said he saw no problems with Musk continuing to fund Starlink in Ukraine. The operation is currently working well, he said.
However, Fedorov, who is also Ukraine’s digital minister, said the government is looking for new satellite communication tools to help Ukraine’s IT infrastructure, which has been disrupted by the Russian invasion. Fedorov said he recently received reports of a power outage in Ukraine as Russia launched an attack on the country’s energy infrastructure.
“We also use other satellite communication tools,” Fedorov said. “We work with other operators, not just SpaceX.”
“One of the reasons I came to Web Summit is to look for new partnerships and connect with new partners,” he added.
One of the alternative partners Ukraine is already working with is ICEYE, a Finnish company that has helped the country with its satellite imaging capabilities.
At the moment, however, it doesn’t look like Starlink will be ceasing operations in Ukraine at this point.
Last month, Musk said SpaceX could not continue funding Starlink terminals in Ukraine “indefinitely.” The shock news came after a CNN report that his space company had asked the Pentagon to pay for it.
Eventually, Musk reversed his decision to stop funding. “To hell with that,” the billionaire tweeted, “although Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions in taxpayer dollars, we’re just going to keep funding the Ukrainian government for free.”
The Starlink internet terminals donated by SpaceX were crucial in keeping the Ukrainian military online during the war against Russia, even if the communications infrastructure is destroyed. Russia began invading Ukraine at the end of February.
Musk, no stranger to controversy, has been criticized for his comments on the war in Ukraine. In a Twitter poll, he suggested that regions illegally annexed by Russia should be allowed to hold UN-supervised referenda to decide whether they want to become part of Russia.
He also said it was his belief that the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, was “formally part of Russia” and should be handed over to Moscow.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Musk hit back, posting his own Twitter poll asking, “Which Elon Musk do you like more? One who supports Ukraine [or] one who supports Russia.”
Musk was even told to fuck off by Ukraine’s outgoing ambassador to Germany. When asked why he wanted to stop funding Starlink in Ukraine, Musk said he was just following his recommendation.
Ukraine had a notable presence at Web Summit, where it is asking for support from public and private sources to step up its fight against Russia. Earlier in the press conference, Microsoft President Brad Smith announced a $100 million investment in technology assistance to Ukraine, bringing the company’s total contribution to the war effort to $400 million.
There has been “a new breed of hybrid warfare combining cyberweapons and other attacks on digital technology,” Smith said.
Microsoft’s move will “allow the government and other organizations in Ukraine to continue running their services on the Microsoft cloud and our public data centers spread across Europe,” Smith said.