Elon Musk's Starlink satellites down leaving thousands worldwide without internet
Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink has been hit by a major global outage, leaving tens of thousands of users across the world without internet connection.
According to outage tracking site DownDetector, problem began to spike around 8pm GMT, with more than 10,000 reports across the UK and over 63,000 in the United States. A significant portion of users - 64% in the UK and 59% in the US - reported experiencing a total blackout, which others reported disrupted internet services.
In a statement posted on X, formally known as Twitter, a Starlink spokesperson confirmed the issue, stating: "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 post concluded.
Owner Elon Musk also addressed the situation personally on X posting an apology, as he said: "Service will be restored shortly. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn't happen again."
Frustrated users flooded social media to share their concerns, particularly as the outage affected those relying on Starlink for work. One user wrote: "You guys gonna reimburse us for this massive outage that's got me kicked out of work?"
While another added: "I couldn't attend a meeting, now I'm in serious trouble. You owe us a refund."
The outage has had especially serious implications in Ukraine, where Starlink has played a critical role in maintaining military communications amid the ongoing war with Russia.
A Ukrainian military source with the call sign "Shadow" reported that Starlink had stopped working along the front line, raising concerns about disruptions to drone operations and artillery coordination. The satellite system has been vital for Ukrainian forces, especially in regions where traditional communication infrastructure has been destroyed.
Starlink, operated by Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, was launched with the mission of delivering high-speed, low-latency internet to underserved areas around the globe.
The company describes its service on X as "Internet from space for humans on Earth."
The timing of the outage is particularly notable, coming just one day after Starlink announced a new partnership with T-Mobile for its T-Satellite service, aimed at extending satellite internet directly to mobile phones.
T-Mobile said the service was designed to keep phones connected "in places no carrier towers can reach."
Since the internet went down three hours ago, Starlight is yet to provide an update on the internet connection with its customers and tens of thousands of users are still without internet.
Although the volume of outage reports on DownDetector has begun to decline, the UK is still experiencing significant disruptions. As of 10:30pm, over 1,300 issues had been logged by users across the country.
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