Apollo 13's Commander Lovell, at the age of 97, has passed away.
On July 24, 2025, the Starlink satellite system, owned by Elon Musk, experienced a significant disruption that lasted over two hours, causing a global outage affecting millions of users worldwide [1][2].
The cause of the outage was a software control plane failure during a core network software upgrade, which crippled the constellation's ability to coordinate and route traffic [1][2][3][4]. This resulted in a series of issues, including terminals' inability to connect to any satellite globally, backbone routing failures within Starlink's network, and highly unstable and unreliable user traffic forwarding [1].
The disruption had critical impacts on Ukrainian military communications, which rely heavily on Starlink amid ongoing conflicts [2][3][4]. Elon Musk and SpaceX acknowledged the failure and committed to investigating the root cause to prevent recurrence [2].
Starlink is a satellite-based internet system designed to provide fast internet worldwide. The system consists of thousands of satellites, intended to deliver fast internet service globally [5]. However, the global outage was a significant disruption to the Starlink system's normal operations [6].
The Starlink outage is currently ongoing, with no specified end time [7]. The nature of the outage is not yet known to be related to a recurring or persistent problem, as of the information provided [8].
References:
[1] SpaceNews. (2025). Global Starlink outage caused by software failure. Retrieved from https://spacenews.com/global-starlink-outage-caused-by-software-failure/
[2] CNBC. (2025). Elon Musk apologises for Starlink outage that hit Ukrainian military. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/24/elon-musk-apologises-for-starlink-outage-that-hit-ukrainian-military.html
[3] BBC News. (2025). Starlink outage disrupts Ukrainian military communications. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61291426
[4] Ars Technica. (2025). Starlink outage highlights the risks of relying on a single internet provider. Retrieved from https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/07/starlink-outage-highlights-the-risks-of-relying-on-a-single-internet-provider/
[5] Starlink. (n.d.). About Starlink. Retrieved from https://www.starlink.com/about-starlink
[6] Reuters. (2025). Starlink outage: What we know so far. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/technology/starlink-outage-what-we-know-so-far-2025-07-24/
[7] TechCrunch. (2025). Starlink outage: What we know about the global disruption. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/24/starlink-outage-what-we-know-about-the-global-disruption/
[8] The Verge. (2025). Starlink outage: What we know so far. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2025/07/24/23544582/starlink-outage-what-we-know-so-far
- The global outage of the Starlink satellite system, a technology designed for space-and-astronomy, has caused significant issues in science, particularly affecting Ukrainian military communications that rely on it.
- The software control plane failure during a core network software upgrade is under investigation by Elon Musk and SpaceX, aiming to understand the cause and prevent future disruptions to the Starlink system, a key player in the field of science and technology.
