What Cause Elon Musk's Starlink Outage? Here's The Detail

Liputan6.com, Jakarta Satellite internet service provider Starlink experienced a massive global network outage on Thursday, July 24, 2025.

The outage lasted approximately 2.5 hours and was described as one of the longest in Starlink's operational history.

Tens of thousands of users across multiple continents reported connectivity issues, raising concerns about the reliance on satellite-based internet services.

This incident not only affected individuals but also highlighted Starlink's crucial role as a communications tool, especially in remote areas and conflict zones like Ukraine.

Elon Musk, CEO of Starlink's parent company, SpaceX, personally apologized for the outage and promised to investigate the root cause of the issue to ensure similar incidents do not recur in the future.

This outage occurred just a day after Starlink launched a new T-Satellite satellite in partnership with T-Mobile, aimed at expanding connectivity coverage.

While Starlink is known for its high speeds and low latency, occasional outages have occurred in the past, but the scale and duration of this one made it a major concern for its millions of users.

Starlink's Vice President of Engineering, Michael Nicolls, explained that the global outage was caused by "a failure of a key internal software service that operates the core network."

This statement indicated that the problem did not originate from external factors such as space weather or geomagnetic storms, but rather from the company's internal systems.

Nicolls added that Starlink is committed to conducting a thorough investigation to fully understand the root cause of this issue.

The ultimate goal is to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future, in order to maintain trust and service stability for users.

Elon Musk, via his X account, also issued a direct apology to affected users.

He emphasized that SpaceX will work diligently to fix the root cause of the disruption.

While there is no official information linking the outage to a cyberattack or a faulty software update, speculation among experts remains about these possibilities.

The Starlink outage began around 3:00 PM ET on July 24, 2025, when users began reporting connectivity issues.

Connectivity reports peaked on Downdetector around 3:20 PM ET, with over 61,000 reports from affected users.

Starlink officially acknowledged the outage around 4:05 PM ET via their X account, stating that they were “currently experiencing a network outage and actively implementing a solution.”

Service began gradually being restored for some users around 5:30 PM ET, and Michael Nicolls stated that service was “mostly restored” by 6:23 PM ET, marking the outage’s duration of approximately 2.5 hours.

The impact of the outage was felt globally, affecting users in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Reports of problems came from major U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York.

In fact, some users in Ukraine, which relies heavily on Starlink for communications in the conflict zone, also reported disruptions.

Many users experienced a "total blackout" that hampered access to online services like streaming, video calling, and gaming.

The official Starlink website even displayed an error message.

Many Starlink users vented their frustration on social media, particularly due to the lack of detailed information from Starlink at the outage's initial stage.

They also struggled to diagnose whether the problem was with their personal hardware or the Starlink network itself.

Some users suggested that the Starlink app be equipped with an automatic outage alert feature.

The incident occurred a day after the launch of Starlink's new T-Satellite satellite in partnership with T-Mobile, designed to expand connectivity to remote areas.

While Starlink is known for its high speeds and low latency, occasional outages are not uncommon.

For example, in May 2024, a 45-minute global outage occurred, also caused by network issues.

With over 6 million users in approximately 140 countries and territories, Starlink is constantly upgrading its network to accommodate the demand for higher speeds and bandwidth.

This outage again highlights the growing reliance on Starlink services, especially in rural and remote areas with limited access to traditional internet.