Elon Musk apologises after Starlink internet outage hits 140 countries

Late Thursday night (25 July at around 1:30 AM IST), Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service suffered a rare global outage, leaving millions of users across the US, Europe and other regions (a total of 140 countries) without internet access. The outage lasted around 2.5 hours before services were restored, but a lot of users sparked up the concern on social media.

What caused the outage?

The issue was caused by a glitch in Starlink’s internal software, which led to widespread disconnection. More than 61,000 users reported the issue on Downdetector, highlighting the scale of the disruption. Though satellite internet is known for its reliability, the unexpected glitch took many by surprise.

Elon Musk and SpaceX respond

Elon Musk took to social media to apologise to Starlink users, stating, “This shouldn’t have happened and won’t happen again.” SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, also issued a formal apology and acknowledged the rare fault in its systems. Musk emphasised that corrective steps are already underway to prevent future service lapses.

Impact beyond civilian u

Starlink is currently operational in over 140 countries, and a temporary outage at this scale had far-reaching consequences. One of the most critical effects was seen in Ukraine, where the military relies heavily on Starlink for communication. Ukrainian drone force commander Robert Brody confirmed that military operations were impacted during the outage.

Could it affect Starlink's business?

Launched in 2020, Starlink uses over 8,000 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide high-speed internet globally. The company is set to launch in India soon, making the incident particularly significant for future customers.

Outages like this can harm business credibility. SpaceX will need to ensure stability to maintain user trust in Starlink moving forward. With growing global dependence on satellite internet, Starlink's promise to avoid future disruptions is now under serious scrutiny.