Thousands of individuals experienced internet outage due to Elon Musk's Starlinksatellite service disruption.
In an unexpected turn of events, a global outage affected over 60,000 Starlink users on Thursday, 24 July, around 7pm UK time. The outage, which lasted approximately 2.5 hours, was caused by an internal software issue, not a satellite malfunction.
Starlink is a global satellite internet network developed by SpaceX, a company established by tech mogul Elon Musk. With over six million users in approximately 140 countries and territories, Starlink provides service to approximately 130 countries and regions. As of May 2025, Starlink operates over 7,600 small satellites in low Earth orbit, with plans to launch up to 12,000 satellites in total.
The outage impacted users across multiple continents, including North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and war-affected regions such as Ukraine. Around 65% of reports cited a "total blackout". Reports of the outage came in from across the globe, including Colorado, Germany, Zimbabwe, and other locations.
SpaceX engineers explained that the outage was a "cascading failure triggered by a single node update" that misconfigured how satellites relay data to one another, causing the network disruption. This occurred the same day SpaceX launched a new direct-to-device satellite service with T-Mobile in the U.S.
Starlink confirmed that the service has been restored. CEO Elon Musk apologized for the incident on his social media platform, X/Twitter, and assured that the company is thoroughly investigating the root cause to prevent recurrence.
The event has raised concerns about the reliability and resilience of large-scale satellite internet networks amid rapid growth and increased reliance. However, it's important to note that SpaceX and Starlink have a track record of quick recovery from such incidents, demonstrating their commitment to maintaining service for their users worldwide.
[1] TechCrunch. (2021, July 24). Starlink outage: SpaceX's satellite internet service down for thousands. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/24/starlink-outage-spacexs-satellite-internet-service-down-for-thousands/
[2] The Verge. (2021, July 24). Starlink outage: SpaceX’s satellite internet service is down for thousands. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/24/22609582/starlink-outage-spacex-satellite-internet-service-down-thousands
[3] BBC News. (2021, July 24). Starlink satellite internet service disrupted worldwide. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57983482
[4] CNBC. (2021, July 24). SpaceX's Starlink service suffers global outage, Elon Musk apologizes. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/24/spacexs-starlink-service-suffers-global-outage-elon-musk-apologizes.html
[5] The Guardian. (2021, July 24). Starlink outage raises concerns about reliability of satellite internet. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jul/24/starlink-outage-raises-concerns-about-reliability-of-satellite-internet
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