SpaceX Links Network Upgrade to Starlink Outage

SpaceX provides by releasing more information about the cause of Thursday’s outage, which prevented Starlink access worldwide.

The extensive Starlink outage that occurred Thursday, which momentarily stopped access to the satellite internet system, is being attributed by SpaceX to a network upgrade.

More information about the cause of the disruption may be found in a statement that the business sent to Starlink service distributors. An executive from SpaceX previously stated that the outage was caused by a “failure of key internal software services that operate the core network,” but they did not provide any details.

However, an industry source claims that the company blamed the problem in the letter to resellers on an “upgrade procedure” that required installing software on Starlink’s “ground-based compute clusters.” 

The purpose of the upgrade was not explained in detail in the mail. However, Starlink relays data from ground-based antennas and facilities on Earth that are connected to fiber networks via satellites in orbit. According to the message, Starlink’s core network was disrupted during the update due to an uncommon combination of events that overloaded the system while traffic was being spread throughout the computing infrastructure.

The picture above shows the network infrastructure, components and lay out of the network at the base site.

Since Starlink serves more than 6 million clients worldwide, the subsequent disruption happened at approximately noon Pacific Time, which is in the middle of the day for many US consumers. Many scrambled for backup internet services as a result of the temporary outage that affected consumers in North America and other regions of the world. Some consumers reported experiencing connectivity issues for several hours or into the following day and weekend, even though SpaceX was able to restore access for the majority of users in roughly two and a half hours.

Since many users in rural and distant places, as well as in war-torn Ukraine, rely on Starlink’s satellite internet connection, Thursday’s outage was the longest in the company’s history. However, at least a few Starlink subscribers have since experienced improved speeds, which has led to conjecture that the outage was caused by a network upgrade.

A Reddit user commented that a typical download at a speed of 110–150 Mbps, but today he receives 200–250 Mbps. Observing speeds of 346+Mbps. Others, meanwhile, have complained about decreased speeds and connection problems since Thursday’s outage.

An inquiry was not immediately answered by SpaceX. “We are deeply committed to providing a highly reliable network, and will fully root cause this issue and ensure it does not occur again,” firm executive Michael Nicolls said in his previous apology for the disruption.

SpaceX has updated its Starlink help page to advise users who are still having issues to “power cycle and reboot all Starlink and third party equipment.”