Starlink International Outage Leaves Australians, Americans Without Network; SpaceX Resolves Issue
SpaceX addressed the network connectivity problem Starlink users experienced Tuesday. Elon Musk's company was able to resolve the problem immediately.
SpaceX Addresses Starlink Network Outage
On Tuesday, Americans, Australians, and more who use SpaceX's Starlink complained about connectivity issues. At 8:33 p.m. ET, SpaceX acknowledged that Starlink had a network outage. It assured users that it was working on implementing a solution. The company appreciated its users' patience and promised to give an update once the problem was resolved.
An hour later, SpaceX announced that the "network issue has been fully resolved." There were about 33,000 user reports during the downtime. Based on the reports, the connectivity problem started to spike at 7:30 p.m. ET.
A number of Starlink users also turned to Reddit to share their experiences, and it turned out that many encountered the same problem. One said the network was down in Africa. Another said it was the same in the Caribbean, Ontario, Michigan, Manitoba, Texas, Kansas, Virginia, and Australia.
Users from Australia claimed that they noticed the issue at about 9:40 a.m. AEST Wednesday. The outage left them without internet access. Starlink users in Australia Facebook group said they returned online before 10:30 a.m.
Starlink's service is advertised as "high-speed, low-latency" and costs $140 monthly. To assist people in remote and regional areas without internet service, Starlink secured agreements with Telstra and Optus to help them connect this year.
The network issue has been fully resolved
— Starlink (@Starlink) September 13, 2023
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What Is Starlink?
Starlink claims on its website that it's the "world's most advanced broadband satellite internet." The company is the world's first and largest constellation of satellites, which uses a low Earth orbit to transmit broadband internet capable of enabling streaming, online gaming, video calls, and other activities.
It provides high-speed, low-latency internet to customers worldwide by utilizing cutting-edge satellites and user devices and our extensive experience with spacecraft and on-orbit operations.
Single geostationary satellites orbiting the planet at 35,786 km provide most satellite internet services. Due to the significant round trip data time, also known as latency between the user and satellite, it is tough to accommodate high data rate activities like streaming, online gaming, video calls, etc.
In comparison, Starlink is a constellation of hundreds of satellites that encircles the world and orbits the planet at a distance of around 550 kilometers. Due to the low orbit of Starlink satellites, latency is much lower, 25 ms, as opposed to 600+ ms.
SpaceX is the only satellite operator with the capacity to launch its satellites as needed, and it is also the world's top provider of launch services. Starlink satellites are continuously upgraded with the newest technology thanks to frequent, affordable launches.
Along with leading the industry in innovations to lessen satellite brightness, Starlink also sets the bar for on-orbit debris abatement, meeting or exceeding all legal requirements.
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