News Desk: In a rare and large-scale disruption, Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, experienced a global outage on Thursday that impacted users across 140 countries. The disruption began around 3 p.m. EDT and lasted for nearly two and a half hours, causing widespread connectivity issues for tens of thousands of users worldwide.
The outage was traced to a failure in internal software systems that manage Starlink’s core satellite network. The company’s engineering team acted swiftly to resolve the problem and successfully restored services after several hours of downtime.
The impact of the outage was felt sharply in sectors that rely heavily on uninterrupted satellite connectivity. In Ukraine, where Starlink terminals are vital for military communication and drone operations, field units reported communication blackouts across the front lines until services resumed late in the night.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, publicly apologized for the disruption and assured users that steps are being taken to prevent similar failures in the future. The company is now reviewing internal systems to strengthen network resilience.
Launched in 2020, Starlink has rapidly grown into a major global internet provider with over six million subscribers. Its satellite-based infrastructure provides coverage in remote, rural, and underserved regions across the globe. However, Thursday’s incident has raised concerns about the vulnerability of centralized satellite networks, especially those used for critical communication.
While services have now been restored, the outage has reignited conversations about the need for diversified and redundant systems to safeguard against single-point failures in essential digital infrastructure.
