The satellite internet service Starlink, operated by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, experienced a rare and massive global outage on Friday, 25 July. According to real-time tracking platform Downdetector, over 61,000 users worldwide reported connectivity issues at the height of the disruption.
Thousands Affected by Rare Disruption
The outage began at around 3:13pm Eastern Time (3:13am Singapore time), affecting Starlink users across various countries. It was described as a “complete global disruption” by Doug Madory, an expert from internet analytics company Kentik. He observed that internet traffic only began to recover more than two hours later, at approximately 5:28pm ET.
Starlink, which has more than 6 million subscribers globally, acknowledged the issue in a post on platform X (formerly Twitter), stating: “Starlink is currently experiencing a network outage. We are actively implementing a fix.”
According to analysts, this scale of outage is extremely rare for satellite-based services. It has raised questions about the network’s resilience and the impact of such interruptions on remote users, emergency services, and commercial operations that rely heavily on satellite internet.
Starlink’s Expansion and Future Plans
Starlink has been rapidly expanding its footprint since its 2020 launch, with over 8,000 satellites launched into low Earth orbit and services now active in more than 140 countries and territories. Its recent pivot towards “direct-to-cell” satellite connectivity is expected to further improve speed and coverage, especially in areas with limited terrestrial infrastructure.
Despite the growing user base and advanced technology, this recent outage highlights the vulnerabilities in satellite networks—especially those depended upon by rural communities, defence sectors, and disaster response teams.
As of now, SpaceX has not released a detailed explanation for the global disruption, but engineers are reportedly working on system-wide enhancements to prevent future incidents. The timing is particularly sensitive, as SpaceX ramps up its ambitions in both commercial and military satellite communications, making network reliability a critical factor in its continued success.
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