Apparently free for them but not 100% *free*. I don't typically cite WaPo as a source but since this article is from April, its release can't possibly be linked to today's events. Makes Musk's posturing all the more interesting, if true.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/08/us-quietly-paying-millions-send-starlink-terminals-ukraine-contrary-spacexs-claims/Another article. Portion donated, portion purchased.
https://www.republicworld.com/science/space/spacex-donates-3667-starlink-terminals-worth-10-dollars-million-for-internet-in-ukraine-reports-articleshow.htmlFrom WaPo (since it seems to be paywalled unless you link via Twitter):
"…according to documents obtained by The Technology 202, the U.S. federal government is in fact paying millions of dollars for a significant portion of the equipment and for the transportation costs to get it to Ukraine.
On Tuesday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it has purchased more than 1,330 terminals from SpaceX to send to Ukraine, while the company donated nearly 3,670 terminals and the Internet service itself.
While the agency initially called it a "private sector donation valued at roughly $10 million," it did not specify how much it is contributing for the equipment or for the cost of transportation.
USAID agreed to purchase closer to 1,500 standard Starlink terminals for $1,500 apiece and to pay an additional $800,000 for transportation costs, documents show, adding up to over $3 million in taxpayer dollars paid to SpaceX for the equipment sent to Ukraine.
In a letter to SpaceX last month outlining the deal, the USAID mission director to Ukraine said the terminals would be "procured" and sent on behalf of USAID by a third-party contractor, which would "arrange for transportation and delivery of the equipment" from Los Angeles International Airport to Ukraine via Poland.
The letter said the nearly 3,670 terminals donated by SpaceX would come with three months of "unlimited data." In addition to the more than 1,330 terminals that USAID confirmed it had purchased, the agency earlier agreed to buy a separate 175 units from SpaceX, according to the documents.
On Thursday, USAID spokesperson Rebecca Chalif said in a statement that the "delivery of Starlink terminals were made possible by a range of stakeholders, whose combined contributions valued over $15 million and facilitated the procurement, international flights, ground transportation, and satellite Internet service of 5,000 Starlink terminals."
