SpaceX has unveiled a new compact version of its Starlink satellite internet antenna called the Starlink Mini.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/0Uxi6KfKRW
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 24, 2024
The portable kit is designed to provide high-speed, low-latency internet access on the go and can easily fit in a backpack. The Starlink Mini is priced at $599 in an early access release, which is $100 more than the standard Starlink kit.
Watch Falcon 9 launch 20 @Starlink satellites to orbit from California, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities https://t.co/UYd5Afh3rU
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 24, 2024
The equipment measures about 12 inches by 10 inches by 1.5 inches and weighs approximately 2.5 pounds, making it roughly half the size and one-third the weight of the standard Starlink dish. In addition to the upfront hardware cost, the service for a Starlink Mini is $150 per month, which includes the $120 per month residential cost and an additional $30 per month for the “Mini Roam” service. The service can be used anywhere in the United States but has a cap of 50 gigabytes of data per month, with Starlink charging $1 per gigabyte for any additional data.
Starlink precipitation report: S-2444 reentered over the Pacific on Jun 23. S-2394 reentered over the Pacific at 0836 UTC Jun 23. S-5182 over Sudan at 0526 UTC Jun 24; S-4066 at 1113 UTC Jun 24 over Cuba; S-1589 around 1600 UTC Jun 24; S-1120 at 1725 UTC Jun 24 over Sardinia.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) June 25, 2024
SpaceX is initially offering a limited number of the Starlink Mini kits at $599 due to high usage in certain regions.
portable Starlink Mini released
The company’s goal is to reduce the price of Starlink to make it more affordable where connectivity has been unaffordable or unavailable.
The Starlink Mini comes with a built-in Wi-Fi router and consumes less power than the standard version. It is capable of download speeds over 100 Mbps and takes less than five minutes to set up, according to SpaceX’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk. While the Starlink Mini is priced at $599 in the US, SpaceX is offering the hardware at a significantly lower price of $200 in select Latin American countries, including Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama.
Subscribers in these regions pay $35 per month for broadband via the smaller dish model, with unlimited deprioritized data and no long-term contracts or commitments. SpaceX’s Starlink network has steadily expanded since its debut in 2020, with about 6,000 satellites in orbit connecting more than 3 million customers in 100 countries. The company initially targeted consumer customers but has since expanded its service offerings to include various sectors such as national security, enterprise, mobility, maritime, and aviation.
