WASHINGTON: Tens of thousands of Starlink users worldwide were left without internet on Thursday after the satellite-based service suffered a major outage lasting over two hours.
The disruption began around 3 pm EDT (1900 GMT), with users in the US and Europe reporting widespread connectivity issues. According to Downdetector, more than 61,000 reports flooded in as customers scrambled for answers.
Starlink later confirmed the outage on its official X account, saying it was “actively implementing a solution.” Service began resuming after 2.5 hours, according to Michael Nicolls, Starlink’s VP of Engineering, who cited “failure of key internal software services that operate the core network.”
Elon Musk apologised on X, saying:
“Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
The blackout — described by analysts as Starlink’s longest-ever interruption since becoming a major provider — sparked speculation about whether it was caused by a botched software update, a glitch, or even a cyberattack.
Doug Madory, an internet infrastructure expert at Kentik, noted that such a global outage is highly unusual, especially for a system known for its resilience.
Cybersecurity expert Gregory Falco from Cornell University suggested it could be similar to last year’s CrowdStrike update failure that crippled Windows devices worldwide.
Starlink, which now serves over 6 million users across 140 countries, has become a vital internet source for rural areas, transportation industries, and even military operations. SpaceX is currently upgrading its satellite constellation to support direct-to-cell texting services in partnership with T-Mobile.
It remains unclear whether Thursday’s issue also affected Starshield, SpaceX’s military satellite network with contracts worth billions with the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies.
The company vowed a full investigation to prevent future disruptions.
