Elon Musk's Starlink plunged thousands of people into an internet blackout

Tech mogul Elon Musk has issued an apology after a major outage left more than 60,000 people without internet access, cutting off connections across several continents.

The disruption, reportedly caused by an internal software issue, began around 7pm UK time on Thursday (24 July), according to Down Detector.

Starlink — the satellite internet service operated by Musk’s company SpaceX — has over six million users in approximately 140 countries and territories.

Reports of the outage came in from across the globe, with users in Colorado, Germany, Zimbabwe and beyond experiencing problems. Around 65 per cent of reports cited a “total blackout”, while others described difficulty accessing the internet.

Taking to his own social media platform, X/Twitter, Musk said: "Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again."

Around six hours later, Starlink confirmed that the issue had been resolved.

"The network issue has been resolved, and Starlink service has been restored," the company wrote. "We understand how important connectivity is and apologise for the disruption."

Starlink is a global satellite internet network developed by SpaceX, the aerospace firm established by Musk. The system functions as a telecommunications provider, using a large array of satellites to deliver internet connectivity.

As of May 2025, Starlink operates more than 7,600 small satellites in low Earth orbit, providing service to roughly 130 countries and regions. The current deployment is part of a broader plan to launch up to 12,000 satellites, with regulatory approval for a potential increase to 34,400 in the future.

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