Starlink, owned by Elon Musk, has changed the game in terms of internet accessibility in rural and other underserved areas lacking high-speed broadband infrastructure. It has 2 million US subscribers, and more than 6 million globally.

A previously unreported order by Elon Musk to cut satellite communications over a portion of Ukraine disrupted a counteroffensive by Kyiv in the autumn of 2022. Reuters investigated the billionaire's order and its implications for countries increasingly reliant on his Starlink internet service.

The website Down Detector recorded a spike in Starlink user error reports beginning around 3 p.m., with error reports peaking around 3:30 p.m. As of this writing, the number of reports had dropped, but they were still significantly higher than the hours prior to the incident.