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SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation is experiencing a significant outage. Reports on Down Detector show that over 65,000 people reported disruptions within moments of the incident. Starlink confirmed the outage on Twitter and stated it was working to restore service.
The service disruption occurred just as Starlink and T-Mobile announced their partnership to eliminate cellular dead zones in America had exited beta testing and became available to customers from AT&T and Verizon.
SpaceX has expanded its Starlink network, reaching over six million users worldwide. Data released by SpaceX earlier this month indicated an average download speed of 180 Mbps with latency below 55 milliseconds. However, as the number of users grows, occasional outages can occur due to higher user density in certain areas.
At 3:10 p.m. Eastern Time, reports at Down Detector initially stood at 7,830 but increased to 61,572 by 3:25 p.m. Users across the United States and internationally reported disruptions on social media.
Starlink confirmed the outage at 4:05 p.m. and stated it was “actively implementing a solution.” Initially, a community-run Starlink status checker page did not provide any details about the service’s status.
The outage affected users in multiple countries on the same day SpaceX and T-Mobile launched their T-Satellite service from beta to public use. T-Mobile announced that this service would be available to Verizon and AT&T customers as well, relying on over 650 Starlink satellites for cellular coverage across the U.S.
Since its initial update, Starlink has not provided further details about the outage. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commented, “My firm will remedy the root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” He apologized and assured users that service would be restored shortly.
📚 Reading Comprehension Quiz
According to the report, how many people initially reported disruptions at Down Detector when the Starlink satellite internet constellation experienced an outage?
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