Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet network suffered a rare and sweeping outage on Thursday, leaving tens of thousands of users disconnected across continents and igniting a flurry of online frustration.
According to outage tracker Downdetector, issues began around 3:24 p.m. ET and escalated rapidly, peaking at more than 58,000 reports by 3:39 p.m. Though the situation improved slightly by 4:01 p.m., around 34,000 users were still reporting service disruptions.
Starlink and Musk Respond
Acknowledging the widespread blackout, Starlink took to X (formerly Twitter)—also owned by Musk—to confirm the outage and announce that a fix was underway.
“Starlink is currently in a network outage and we are actively implementing a solution. We appreciate your patience, we’ll share an update once this issue is resolved,” the company posted.
Musk also addressed the situation directly, assuring users that service would return soon and vowing to prevent such failures in the future.
“Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” he wrote.
Adding to the disruption, Starlink’s official website briefly went offline as well, showing a “no healthy upstream” error—a technical message indicating server issues.
Global Impact and Speculation
The outage affected users in various parts of the world, including North America, Europe, and Africa. Reports came from as far afield as Colorado, Germany, Zimbabwe, and northern Canada—highlighting the scale of the disruption.
In remote Canadian regions like Kugluktuk and Hay River, where Starlink is a critical link during cable outages caused by wildfires, the loss of service impacted telehealth services, online learning, and everyday communication. Cabin Radio was among the first to report issues in these areas.
Meanwhile, speculation arose about the cause. Just hours before the blackout, Musk had posted about Starlink’s expanding Direct-to-Cell service—an ambitious plan to allow direct satellite connectivity for smartphones, including text, voice, and data. Some users questioned whether a recent system update or infrastructure change related to this project might have caused the outage, though no official link has been confirmed.
A Crucial Global Network
Starlink, a SpaceX venture, currently operates over 7,600 satellites and provides broadband internet in more than 130 countries. It plays a vital role in delivering connectivity to underserved areas and has been a communication lifeline in conflict zones such as Ukraine.
The rare global outage is a reminder of both the strengths and vulnerabilities of satellite internet technology, especially as it becomes more central to life in remote and high-risk regions.
Source: https://interestingengineering.com/culture/starlink-global-outage-musk-response
