Starlink Outage Hits Thousands After Software Failure
SpaceX's Starlink suffered a major outage on Thursday, affecting tens of thousands of users globally. The Starlink outage was caused by an internal software failure, according to the company. Users across the U.S. and Europe reported connectivity issues around 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), as per Downdetector, which recorded up to 61,000 user reports.
Starlink, which serves over 6 million users in nearly 140 countries and territories, acknowledged the problem on its official X account. The company announced that it was actively working on a solution. Service was mostly restored after 2.5 hours, Michael Nicolls, vice president of Starlink Engineering, revealed on X.
'The outage was due to failure of key internal software services that operate the core network,' Nicolls wrote, apologizing for the disruption and confirming efforts to find the root cause. Elon Musk also apologized, stating, 'Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn't happen again.'
Experts commented on the incident, noting the unusual scale of the Starlink outage. Doug Madory, an analyst at internet monitoring firm Kentik, reported that the outage was global. 'This is likely the longest outage ever for Starlink, at least while it became a major service provider,' he said.
The outage has sparked discussions about possible causes, including a software glitch, a failed update, or even a cyberattack. Gregory Falco, director of a space and cybersecurity lab at Cornell University, speculated, 'I'd guess this is a bad software update, not entirely dissimilar to the CrowdStrike issue with Windows last year, or a cyberattack.'
Key details include: SpaceX launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020 to build its low-Earth orbit network.
The company is partnering with T-Mobile to provide direct-to-cell text messaging services in rural areas.
Starlink's growing user base has pushed SpaceX to focus on enhancing network speed and bandwidth. The company's Starshield unit, which handles military satellite services, holds significant contracts with the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies. It remains unclear if these services were affected by the Starlink outage.
The incident is being compared to a 2024 CrowdStrike cybersecurity software update that caused worldwide flight cancellations and disrupted 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices.
Source: Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Dubai Eye
4 days ago
- Dubai Eye
India launches NASA-ISRO satellite to track climate threats from space
India launched on Wednesday a $1.5 billion, first-of-its-kind radar imaging satellite built in collaboration with NASA, deploying it to help enhance global monitoring of climate change and natural disasters. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR satellite, is the first such collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation and US space agency NASA. It took off from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 1210 GMT atop a medium-lift rocket, marking a milestone in space cooperation and bolstering India's profile in low-cost, high-impact satellite missions. NISAR is the world's first radar imaging satellite to use two radar frequencies - the L-band provided by NASA and the S-band developed by ISRO - to track minute changes in the Earth's surface, including movements as small as a centimetre, the space agencies have said. The satellite, roughly the size and weight of a fully loaded pickup truck - was placed into a near-polar Sun-synchronous orbit approximately 747 km (464 miles) above Earth. It will map the planet every 12 days using a 240-km-wide radar swath, offering data to scientists and disaster response agencies to monitor everything from glacier retreat in the Himalayas to potential landslide zones in South America. "The potential applications from the satellite are huge, and the global scientific community is eagerly awaiting the satellite data for their respective research and usage," ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said after the launch. "It is not going to be used by one or two countries. The entire globe is going to benefit from this great accomplishment," he said, adding that the mission had brought the two space agencies much closer than ever before. Casey Swails, NASA's deputy associate administrator, called the mission a "pathfinder". "This Earth science mission is one of a kind and really shows the world what our two nations can do," she said. NISAR is expected to operate for at least five years. The data it collects will be made freely available to users worldwide — a move aimed at enhancing transparency and accessibility in environmental research and hazard response. The launch comes amid India's broader push to establish itself as a leading space power, following the success of its Chandrayaan-3 moon landing and its upcoming Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme. India has said it aims to build its own space station by 2035 and send astronauts to the moon in partnership with other countries as part of a broader vision to expand commercial and scientific activities in space. Earth's surface is in motion: earthquake faults slip, crops grow, levees crumble, glaciers retreat. A joint NASA/ @ISRO radar satellite, NISAR, launched today to measure land and ice land and ice changes like these to within a fraction of an inch: — NASA (@NASA) July 30, 2025
Zawya
4 days ago
- Zawya
China's SpaceX rival LandSpace eyes IPO in Shanghai
BEIJING - Chinese rocket developer LandSpace Technology is seeking to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's tech-focussed STAR Market, according to a document released by the securities regulator on Tuesday. The document did not state how much the company aims to raise. Beijing-based LandSpace was the world's first company to launch a methane-liquid oxygen rocket in July 2023, ahead of U.S. rivals including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin. It completed a test of the first-stage propulsion system of its Zhuque-3 launch vehicle in June, paving the way for the reusable rocket's first launch scheduled for the second half of 2025, according to a statement posted on the company's WeChat account. A successful test of Zhuque-3 would make LandSpace the second company after SpaceX to launch a reusable rocket, which is cheaper and faster in launch turnaround compared with expendable rockets. Founded in 2015, LandSpace has secured funding from investors including venture capital firm HongShan, known at that time as Sequoia Capital China, the investment arm of Chinese property developer Country Garden and the state-backed China SME Development Fund. LandSpace raised 900 million yuan ($125 million) in December from a state-owned fund focussed on advanced manufacturing, while in 2020 it raised 1.2 billion yuan, Chinese corporate databases showed. ($1 = 7.1796 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Tahawul Tech
4 days ago
- Tahawul Tech
Starlink shut down over Ukraine battlefield
Elon Musk is reported to have turned off the Starlink communications services during a key Ukrainian counteroffensive to win back territory from Russia in September 2022. Reuters, citing three sources, reported Musk told a senior SpaceX engineer to cut coverage in several areas, including Kherson. His decision also impacted other areas seized by Russia, including part of Donetsk province further east. The loss of SpaceX's Starlink satellite services caused a communications blackout for Ukrainian troops near the front lines. The signal loss impacted drones that were surveilling Russian forces and long-range artillery units which relied on the service to direct their fire, according to the news agency. According to a Ukrainian military official and a military advisor, troops were unable to encircle a Russian position in the town of Beryslav, east of Kherson. While Ukraine's armed forces were eventually able to reclaim Beryslav, the city of Kherson and some additional territory Russia had occupied, Reuters reported it was the first known instance of Musk shutting down Starlink over a battlefield. The news agency explained Musk's decision may have been related to his concern Russia would retaliate with nuclear weapons. Source: Mobile World Live Image Credit: Starlink
