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Leap Year Glitch Causes 48-Hour Satellite Blackout

1/11/2025

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Summary

Story summary

On December 31, 2024, Eutelsat's OneWeb satellite broadband service plunged into a 48-hour blackout, triggered by a leap year software glitch. The oversight in accounting for the extra day led to a critical timing clash between GPS and UTC. Based in Paris, Eutelsat's expansive satellite network serves millions worldwide, making this outage particularly impactful.

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Story summary

On December 31, 2024, Eutelsat's OneWeb satellite broadband service plunged into a 48-hour blackout, triggered by a leap year software glitch. The oversight in accounting for the extra day led to a critical timing clash between GPS and UTC. Based in Paris, Eutelsat's expansive satellite network serves millions worldwide, making this outage particularly impactful.