On the night of July 25th, the Starlink service experienced a 2.5-hour outage due to a software failure, affecting 6 million users. This global outage was caused by a 'Configuration Propagation Error.'
Starlink: Elon Musk's highly acclaimed Starlink satellite internet service, known for bringing internet access to the world's most remote areas, suddenly went down on the night of July 25th. This outage once again proved that no matter how advanced technology may be, it is not 100% reliable. Millions of users across more than 140 countries were abruptly disconnected from the internet, including those in major countries like the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, and Brazil. Although Starlink service has not yet launched in India, this event has also given potential users here food for thought.
When and how did this technical glitch occur?
Around 12:30 AM IST, thousands of users began reporting disruptions in Starlink internet service. On the Downdetector website, over 61,000 complaints were quickly registered. Many users in the US and Europe reported that their routers suddenly went offline, and the internet connection was completely lost.
The Real Reason: Software Failure
The primary cause of this entire outage was a critical flaw in Starlink's software system. In a statement released by the company, it was stated that a problem arose in the network routing server during an internal software update, which caused a large number of satellite terminals to suddenly disconnect. Technically, it was a 'Configuration Propagation Error,' meaning that incorrect settings rapidly spread to all satellite devices. This resulted in the satellite hubs, which are considered the backbone of the network, going down.
When was the service restored?
After approximately 2.5 hours, Starlink's technical team reset the system and restored the service. The company confirmed this in a post on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, stating: 'Our service is now operating normally. We apologize to all users for the inconvenience. Our team is thoroughly investigating the issue.'
Impact on Over 6 Million Users
Starlink currently serves over 6 million customers worldwide. Its unique feature is that it does not rely on traditional mobile networks or fiber optics but provides direct internet connection through LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites. As a result, Starlink becomes the only means of connectivity in disaster situations, remote areas, or in the middle of the ocean.
Launch in India Soon
The news of this outage comes at a time when Starlink is preparing to launch its service in India. The Indian government recently gave final approval to Elon Musk's company, and as soon as spectrum allocation is done, Starlink will begin its service in India. However, this incident may now raise questions among Indian policymakers and users about whether technologies like Starlink will prove to be completely reliable in emergency or remote areas.
What do the experts say?
Technical experts believe that this outage is a major reality check for Starlink. Although this global outage is considered 'rare,' affecting millions of people at once shows that the system still needs to be strengthened. AI network expert Dr. Vinay Verma says: 'This incident reminded us that this revolutionary service, built from the combination of AI and satellites, is not immune to human errors. Starlink now needs to develop multi-layer fallback systems to avoid software failures.'
