Elon Musk Says 15,000 Starlink Terminals Have Been Sent to Ukraine

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk says 15,000 Starlink terminals have been sent to Ukraine since Russia's invasion of the country started in February.

On June 5, Musk tweeted a short video presentation that he said was shared with his SpaceX employers earlier in the week. One of the slides shows several Starlink terminals laid out in a large outdoor area. The text on the slide states that 15,000 Starlinks were delivered to Ukraine. The figure was earlier reported by the Financial Times. 

Starlink is the name of SpaceX's network of about 2,000 low Earth orbit satellites, which are designed to beam internet around the world. Starlink didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Starlink has around 150,000 daily users in Ukraine, the country's vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said in May. He added that SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet has been vital for Ukrainians who've remained in the country during the Russian invasion. 

SpaceX began sending Starlink terminals to Ukraine in February, when Musk confirmed that the service was active in the country. The US government may have subsidized the operation to send Starlink terminals and service to Ukraine, The Washington Post reported in April.