Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, suffered a major global service disruption on Thursday, leaving tens of thousands of users without connectivity.
The outage was acknowledged in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), where Starlink confirmed that it is actively investigating and working to restore services.
“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 company said.
Owned by U.S. billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, Starlink has rapidly expanded its user base by providing high-speed satellite internet in rural and underserved areas worldwide.
The extent of the disruption became evident when Downdetector, a website that tracks real-time internet issues, recorded over 36,700 user reports of Starlink problems as of 3:54 p.m. ET.
Elon Musk also addressed the issue directly on X, reassuring users that the problem was temporary.
“Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Musk posted.
The exact cause of the outage has not yet been disclosed, but SpaceX says it is committed to preventing future incidents.
This marks one of the most significant interruptions to Starlink’s operations since the service began its global rollout. As reliance on satellite internet grows, especially in regions with limited infrastructure, the stability of such services becomes increasingly critical.