Advertising image of Starlink Mini.
SpaceX customer email sent on June 19, 2024.
SpaceX is launching a compact version of the Starlink antenna that the company is promoting as a portable option for satellite Internet customers.
“Starlink Mini is a compact, portable device that can easily fit in a backpack, designed to provide high-speed, low-latency Internet on the go,” according to a customer email sent by SpaceX. on Wednesday and was viewed by CNBC.
The company is offering a “limited quantity” of Starlink Mini antennas for $599 each in an early access release. That’s $100 more than the base model “Standard” antenna sold with its Residential offering, although the company expects to lower the price.
“Our goal is to lower the cost of Starlink, especially for parts of the world where connectivity is unaffordable or not available at all,” SpaceX wrote in an email.
Advertising image of Starlink Mini.
SpaceX customer email sent on June 19, 2024.
Aside from the upfront hardware costs, service for the Starlink Mini actually costs $150 per month – as SpaceX is offering service for the Mini as an add-on $30 per month package on top of the $120 per month Civil service . The “Mini Roam” service “can be used anywhere in the United States” but has a limit of 50 gigabytes of data per month, with Starlink charging $1 per gigabyte for additional data.
The Starlink Mini antenna is about the size and weight of a laptop, at just over 2 pounds, and measures approximately 12 inches by 10 inches by 1.5 inches. It is half the size and one-third the weight of Starlink’s Standard antenna.
SpaceX’s email said the Starlink Mini comes with a built-in WiFi router and “lower power consumption” than other antennas, but it still has download speeds of more than 100 megabits per second.
The email did not specify when Starlink Mini deliveries would begin. In a post On social media, Starlink Engineering Vice President Michael Nicolls said the company is “ramping up production” of the Starlink Mini and that it “will be available internationally soon.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Written in an article Second, setting up the Starlink Mini takes less than five minutes.
“This product will change the world,” Musk declared.
According to the company, SpaceX has continuously expanded the Starlink network and product offerings since launching the service in 2020. There are approximately 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit connecting more than 3 million customers in 100 countries . SpaceX was initially aimed at consumer customers, but… expand to other markets — including national security, business, transportation, maritime and aviation — and disrupt the existing satellite communications sector.
