diff --git a/src/components/MapContainer.ts b/src/components/MapContainer.ts
index e4a25e7bad..755daef9a1 100644
--- a/src/components/MapContainer.ts
+++ b/src/components/MapContainer.ts
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@
 // paint anyway. Keep this import at the top of the file so Vite associates it
 // with this module's chunk, not whichever sibling pulls it in first.
 import 'maplibre-gl/dist/maplibre-gl.css';
-import { isMobileDevice } from '@/utils';
+import { isMobileDevice, showToast } from '@/utils';
 import { MapComponent } from './Map';
 import { DeckGLMap, type DeckMapView, type CountryClickPayload } from './DeckGLMap';
-import { GlobeMap } from './GlobeMap';
+import type { GlobeMap } from './GlobeMap';
 import type {
   MapLayers,
   Hotspot,
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ interface TechEventMarker {
 type FireMarker = { lat: number; lon: number; brightness: number; frp: number; confidence: number; region: string; acq_date: string; daynight: string };
 type NewsLocationMarker = { lat: number; lon: number; title: string; threatLevel: string; timestamp?: Date };
 type CIIScore = { code: string; score: number; level: string };
+type GlobeMapCtor = typeof import('./GlobeMap').GlobeMap;
 
 /**
  * Unified map interface that delegates to either DeckGLMap or MapComponent
@@ -98,10 +99,13 @@ export class MapContainer {
   private deckGLMap: DeckGLMap | null = null;
   private svgMap: MapComponent | null = null;
   private globeMap: GlobeMap | null = null;
+  private globeMapCtorPromise: Promise<GlobeMapCtor> | null = null;
+  private globeActivationId = 0;
   private supplyChainPanel: import('@/components/SupplyChainPanel').SupplyChainPanel | null = null;
   private initialState: MapContainerState;
   private useDeckGL: boolean;
   private useGlobe: boolean;
+  private destroyed = false;
   private isResizingInternal = false;
   private resizeObserver: ResizeObserver | null = null;
 
@@ -205,10 +209,68 @@ export class MapContainer {
     this.svgMap = new MapComponent(this.container, this.initialState);
   }
 
+  private loadGlobeMapCtor(): Promise<GlobeMapCtor> {
+    if (!this.globeMapCtorPromise) {
+      this.globeMapCtorPromise = import('./GlobeMap')
+        .then(({ GlobeMap }) => GlobeMap)
+        .catch((error) => {
+          this.globeMapCtorPromise = null;
+          throw error;
+        });
+    }
+    return this.globeMapCtorPromise;
+  }
+
+  private markFlatModeActiveAfterGlobeFailure(): void {
+    document.querySelectorAll<HTMLButtonElement>('#mapDimensionToggle .map-dim-btn').forEach((btn) => {
+      btn.classList.toggle('active', btn.dataset.mode === 'flat');
+    });
+  }
+
+  private observeContainerResize(): void {
+    if (typeof ResizeObserver === 'undefined' || this.resizeObserver) return;
+    this.resizeObserver = new ResizeObserver(() => {
+      // Skip if we are already handling resize manually via drag handlers
+      if (this.isResizingInternal) return;
+      this.resize();
+    });
+    this.resizeObserver.observe(this.container);
+  }
+
+  private async initGlobeMap(
+    snapshot?: MapContainerState,
+    center?: { lat: number; lon: number } | null,
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    const activationId = ++this.globeActivationId;
+    console.log('[MapContainer] Initializing 3D globe (globe.gl mode)');
+
+    try {
+      const GlobeMapCtor = await this.loadGlobeMapCtor();
+      if (this.destroyed || !this.useGlobe || activationId !== this.globeActivationId) return;
+
+      this.globeMap = new GlobeMapCtor(this.container, this.initialState);
+    } catch (error) {
+      if (this.destroyed || !this.useGlobe || activationId !== this.globeActivationId) return;
+
+      console.warn('[MapContainer] Globe initialization failed, falling back to flat map', error);
+      this.useGlobe = false;
+      this.useDeckGL = this.shouldUseDeckGL();
+      this.markFlatModeActiveAfterGlobeFailure();
+      this.init();
+      if (snapshot) this.restoreViewport(snapshot, center ?? null);
+      this.rehydrateActiveMap();
+      showToast('3D globe failed to load. Showing 2D map instead.');
+      return;
+    }
+
+    this.observeContainerResize();
+    if (snapshot) this.restoreViewport(snapshot, center ?? null);
+    this.rehydrateActiveMap();
+  }
+
   private init(): void {
     if (this.useGlobe) {
-      console.log('[MapContainer] Initializing 3D globe (globe.gl mode)');
-      this.globeMap = new GlobeMap(this.container, this.initialState);
+      void this.initGlobeMap();
     } else if (this.useDeckGL) {
       console.log('[MapContainer] Initializing deck.gl map (desktop mode)');
       try {
@@ -226,14 +288,7 @@ export class MapContainer {
     }
 
     // Automatic resize on container change (fixes gaps on load/layout shift)
-    if (typeof ResizeObserver !== 'undefined') {
-      this.resizeObserver = new ResizeObserver(() => {
-        // Skip if we are already handling resize manually via drag handlers
-        if (this.isResizingInternal) return;
-        this.resize();
-      });
-      this.resizeObserver.observe(this.container);
-    }
+    this.observeContainerResize();
   }
 
   /** Switch to 3D globe mode at runtime (called from Settings). */
@@ -246,9 +301,7 @@ export class MapContainer {
     this.destroyFlatMap();
     this.useGlobe = true;
     this.useDeckGL = false;
-    this.globeMap = new GlobeMap(this.container, this.initialState);
-    this.restoreViewport(snapshot, center);
-    this.rehydrateActiveMap();
+    void this.initGlobeMap(snapshot, center);
   }
 
   /** Reload basemap style (called when map provider changes in Settings). */
@@ -266,6 +319,7 @@ export class MapContainer {
     this.globeMap?.destroy();
     this.globeMap = null;
     this.useGlobe = false;
+    this.globeActivationId++;
     this.useDeckGL = this.shouldUseDeckGL();
     this.init();
     this.restoreViewport(snapshot, center);
@@ -1048,6 +1102,8 @@ export class MapContainer {
   }
 
   public destroy(): void {
+    this.destroyed = true;
+    this.globeActivationId++;
     this.resizeObserver?.disconnect();
     this.globeMap?.destroy();
     this.deckGLMap?.destroy();
diff --git a/vite.config.ts b/vite.config.ts
index e0543683d8..43ad1927ae 100644
--- a/vite.config.ts
+++ b/vite.config.ts
@@ -20,11 +20,16 @@ const BROTLI_EXTENSIONS = new Set(['.js', '.mjs', '.css', '.html', '.svg', '.jso
 // silent-breakage failure mode where renaming a chunk in `manualChunks`
 // re-eagerises the WebGL stack without any build-time error.
 //   - maplibre, deck-stack: heavy WebGL deps, only reachable via MapContainer
+//   - globe-stack: globe.gl + three.js, only reachable when globe mode loads
 //   - MapContainer: the dynamic-import target itself
-const LAZY_HTML_PRELOAD_CHUNKS = ['maplibre', 'deck-stack', 'MapContainer'] as const;
+const LAZY_HTML_PRELOAD_CHUNKS = ['maplibre', 'deck-stack', 'globe-stack', 'MapContainer'] as const;
 const LAZY_HTML_PRELOAD_RE = new RegExp(
   `/(${LAZY_HTML_PRELOAD_CHUNKS.join('|')})-[A-Za-z0-9_-]+\\.js$`,
 );
+const HTML_MODULEPRELOAD_TAG_RE = /<link\b[^>]*rel=["']modulepreload["'][^>]*>/g;
+const LAZY_HTML_CHUNK_REF_RE = new RegExp(
+  `\\bhref=["'][^"']*/(${LAZY_HTML_PRELOAD_CHUNKS.join('|')})-[A-Za-z0-9_-]+\\.js["']`,
+);
 
 // Panel-cluster manualChunks map. Splits the previously monolithic ~2.3MB
 // `panels` chunk into per-domain chunks so cache invalidation is local to
@@ -124,6 +129,37 @@ function brotliPrecompressPlugin(): Plugin {
   };
 }
 
+function lazyHtmlPreloadGuardPlugin(): Plugin {
+  return {
+    name: 'lazy-html-preload-guard',
+    apply: 'build',
+    enforce: 'post',
+    async writeBundle(outputOptions, bundle) {
+      const outDir = outputOptions.dir;
+      if (!outDir) return;
+
+      const violations: string[] = [];
+
+      await Promise.all(Object.entries(bundle).map(async ([fileName, asset]) => {
+        if (asset.type !== 'asset' || !fileName.endsWith('.html')) return;
+
+        const html = await readFile(resolve(outDir, fileName), 'utf8');
+        const preloadTags = html.match(HTML_MODULEPRELOAD_TAG_RE) ?? [];
+        const matches = preloadTags.filter((tag) => LAZY_HTML_CHUNK_REF_RE.test(tag));
+        if (matches.length > 0) {
+          violations.push(`${fileName}: ${matches.join(', ')}`);
+        }
+      }));
+
+      if (violations.length > 0) {
+        this.error(
+          `Lazy chunks were emitted as entry HTML modulepreload dependencies:\n${violations.join('\n')}`,
+        );
+      }
+    },
+  };
+}
+
 function htmlVariantPlugin(activeMeta: VariantMeta, activeVariant: string, isDesktopBuild: boolean): Plugin {
   return {
     name: 'html-variant',
@@ -778,6 +814,7 @@ export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => {
       youtubeLivePlugin(),
       gpsjamDevPlugin(),
       sebufApiPlugin(),
+      lazyHtmlPreloadGuardPlugin(),
       brotliPrecompressPlugin(),
       VitePWA({
         registerType: 'autoUpdate',
@@ -987,6 +1024,9 @@ export default defineConfig(({ mode }) => {
               ) {
                 return 'deck-stack';
               }
+              if (id.includes('/globe.gl/') || id.includes('/three/')) {
+                return 'globe-stack';
+              }
               if (id.includes('/d3/')) {
                 return 'd3';
               }