SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet network experienced a rare global service disruption on Thursday, leaving tens of thousands of users offline for over two hours. The outage, attributed to an internal software failure, marked one of the most significant technical challenges faced by Elon Musk's rapidly expanding connectivity service.
Downdetector, a real-time outage tracker, recorded over 61,000 user reports from the U.S., Europe, and other regions starting at 3 p.m. EDT. Starlink's engineering team acknowledged the issue on social media platform X, stating: "We are actively implementing a solution."
Michael Nicolls, Starlink's Vice President of Engineering, confirmed service restoration after 2.5 hours, explaining: "The outage was due to failure of key internal software services that operate the core network." SpaceX CEO Elon Musk publicly apologized, pledging to address the root cause.
Internet analyst Doug Madory noted the unprecedented scale of the disruption: "This is likely the longest outage ever for Starlink since becoming a major service provider." The incident raised questions about vulnerabilities in the low-Earth orbit satellite network that serves over 6 million users across 140 countries and territories.
Despite the temporary setback, Starlink's distributed network of 8,000+ satellites remains crucial for remote communities, transportation sectors, and defense applications. The company's swift response highlights its operational capabilities, though the event underscores growing dependence on satellite internet infrastructure.
