Elon Musk's Mars colonization plans face intergalactic hurdle
Users cited sluggish connections, intermittent service, and in many cases, total blackouts. A live outage map showed widespread disruptions in major US cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle.
Downdetector also received outage reports from users in Australia, Canada, the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and several other countries across South America and Europe. The outage comes just months after Starlink hit a $350 billion valuation in December 2024. The service currently boasts more than six million active users worldwide. Musk has previously stated that Starlink's profits are 'being used to pay for humanity getting to Mars.'
While it's unclear how much revenue the company generates daily, a widespread service disruption could pose a setback to those lofty interplanetary ambitions. 'Starlink is currently in a network outage and we are actively implementing a solution,' Starlink's X account posted. 'We appreciate your patience, we'll share an update once this issue is resolved.'
The outage has left many customers frustrated, with many posting on Musk's X demanding refunds. 'Hope there's a big refund coming. You charge top dollar so this [expletive] doesn't happen!' one customer shared. Starlink's Residential plan costs $120 per month, while the Residential Lite plan is $80 per month.
There are also Roam plans for users who need internet on the go, with prices ranging from $50 to $165 per month. And the standard Starlink kit costs $349 plus shipping. 'You owe us all a refund for today… better see a discount on that next bill or we will have issues you failed to provide your service,' one X user commented on Starlink's post acknowledging the outage.
In May, Musk unveiled bold new plans for SpaceX's strategy to colonize Mars, detailing what he called the next phase in space exploration. While much of the presentation focused on landing a Tesla Optimus robot in 2026, the billionaire announced that SpaceX will also send Starlink satellites to provide internet to those who chose to live on the Martian world.
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