On the evening of Thursday, July 24th, Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service that has become a lifeline for remote communities worldwide, including here in Zimbabwe, experienced a rare and significant global outage.
If your Starlink terminal started acting up around 9:00 p.m. Zimbabwean time, you weren’t alone. The entire Starlink network went offline for approximately two and a half hours, marking the most extensive and prolonged disruption the service has faced since its inception.
A Global Blackout
The outage began at precisely 9:13 p.m. (CAT) local time. Users across continents from North America and Europe to Asia, Africa, and Australia were suddenly met with a “disconnected” status on their terminals. Downdetector, a platform that tracks service disruptions, recorded over 60,000 outage reports at the peak of the incident.
Even in southern Africa, reports poured in from users who rely on Starlink for everything from home connectivity to business operations. But the impact wasn’t limited to civilian use.
In Ukraine, where Starlink is a critical tool for military communications on the front lines, forces reported a 150-minute blackout—an interruption that could have had serious consequences in a conflict zone.
What Went Wrong?
SpaceX, the company behind Starlink, acknowledged the issue. Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s Vice President of Engineering, confirmed that the outage was caused by internal “network issues with our inter-satellite links and gateway infrastructure.”
In simpler terms, the software systems responsible for managing traffic across Starlink’s vast constellation of over 6,000 satellites malfunctioned. It wasn’t a cyberattack or a solar flare—just a very human software error.
Elon Musk also weighed in, stating that the root cause had been identified and that corrective measures were being implemented to prevent a recurrence.
A Reminder of the Limits of Technology
To Starlink’s credit, the service has maintained impressive reliability over the years, especially considering the complexity of operating a global satellite mesh network in low Earth orbit. But this incident is a stark reminder: even space-based internet isn’t immune to bugs and breakdowns.
In the Zimbabwean context, a 2.5-hour outage might not seem catastrophic. We’re no strangers to network disruptions—local ISPs frequently hit us with unexplained downtimes, sluggish speeds, or complete blackouts. Compared to that, Starlink’s first major hiccup since launching in Zimbabwe in September 2024 feels almost forgivable.
Still, the outage underscores a broader truth: no internet provider, no matter how advanced, can guarantee 100% uptime.
The Stakes Are Higher Than They Seem
While a couple of hours offline might be a minor inconvenience for some, for others, it can be critical. Imagine someone in a rural clinic relying on Starlink for telehealth services, or a trader in the middle of a high-stakes forex move. A dropped connection at the wrong moment could mean lost opportunities—or worse.
And in conflict zones like Ukraine, the consequences of a communications blackout can be life-threatening. Even if this particular outage didn’t result in casualties, it highlights the risks of over-reliance on a single provider for essential services.
Looking Ahead
Service has since been restored, and there’s no indication that any hardware was damaged. But the incident has raised important questions. Regulators, governments, and enterprise users will likely be pressing SpaceX for answers—and reassurances—in the coming weeks.
So, if your Starlink terminal blinked out or failed to connect on Thursday night, rest assured: it wasn’t just you. The entire planet was momentarily offline.
