Starlink suffers a 2.5-hour global outage from a software failure

What changed

Starlink service failed at about 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jul 24, 2025, Light Reading reported the next day. Downdetector reports peaked around 4 p.m. ET at 59,448, from the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, Brazil, the Philippines and Ukraine. Most reports were connectivity problems; 43% described a total blackout.

Starlink vice president Michael Nicolls attributed the outage to the failure of key internal software services that operate the core network. Service mostly recovered after about 2.5 hours.

T-Mobile's T-Satellite texting service, which uses Starlink satellites, kept working, according to the report.

"Starlink has now mostly recovered from the network outage, which lasted approximately 2.5 hours."

Who it affects

All Starlink users who were online that afternoon, Residential and Roam alike.

People who rely on Starlink as their only connection, including for work: a multi-hour outage is rare but possible.

T-Mobile customers using T-Satellite texting, which the report said kept working during the outage.

Business and Roam users at sea or on the road, for whom Starlink is often the only link available.

What you can do now

This is background. If outages matter to you, keep a backup (a phone hotspot is the usual one).

Know your exit: Starlink's 30-day return window covers new hardware, and our fine print page explains rental return rules if you decide Starlink isn't for you.

If you run a business on Starlink, note the time and length of any outage you see. Starlink hasn't published a credit policy we could find for outages, but a dated record helps if you contact support.

What hasn't changed

No price or plan changed because of the outage.

Satellites and dishes weren't the cause; per Starlink, it was core network software.

Context

Outages of this size are rare for Starlink, which is why this one drew wide coverage. Light Reading noted it affected users across North America, Europe, South America and Asia at once. That fits a fault in shared core software rather than a problem with the satellites or individual dishes.

For deal shoppers, the point is reliability rather than price: a cheaper plan doesn't help if your work depends on one connection. Check what backup you'd use before you cancel cable or DSL to switch.

What we don't know yet

• Whether Starlink issued service credits for the outage; the report didn't mention any, and we found no published credit policy for it.
• Exactly what failed in the software, beyond "key internal software services".