SpaceX is launching a compact version of its Starlink antennas, which the corporate is promoting as a mobile option for its satellite web customers.
“Starlink Mini is a compact, portable kit that fits easily in a backpack and is designed to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet on the go,” SpaceX said in a customer email on Wednesday, which CNBC was capable of see.
The company is offering a “limited number” of the Starlink Mini antennas in a pre-release version for $599 each. That's $100 greater than the bottom model “standard” antenna sold with its residential service, though the corporate is striving to bring the value down.
“Our goal is to lower the price of Starlink, especially for those in the world for whom connectivity has been unaffordable or unavailable at all,” SpaceX wrote in the e-mail.
In addition to the initial hardware cost, service for a Starlink Mini effectively costs $150 per thirty days — because SpaceX offers service for a Mini as a further package for $30 per thirty days, along with a residential service for $120 per thirty days. The “Mini Roam” service “can be used anywhere in the United States,” but has a cap of fifty gigabytes of information per thirty days, with Starlink charging $1 per gigabyte for extra data.
The Starlink Mini antenna is in regards to the size and weight of a laptop, weighing just over two kilos and measuring about 12 x 10 x 1.5 inches. It's about half the scale and one-third the load of Starlink's standard antenna.
SpaceX's email said Starlink Mini has a built-in Wi-Fi router and uses “lower power” than its other antennas, but still achieves download speeds of over 100 megabits per second.
The email didn’t specify when Starlink Mini deliveries would begin. In a post On social media, Michael Nicolls, vice chairman of Starlink Engineering, said the corporate is “ramping up production” of Starlink Mini and that it’s going to “be available in international markets soon.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote in a single post Monday that establishing a Starlink Mini took lower than five minutes.
“This product will change the world,” Musk said.
SpaceX has been steadily expanding its Starlink network and product offerings since launching the service in 2020. According to the corporate, there are currently about 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, connecting greater than 3 million customers in 100 countries. SpaceX initially targeted residential customers but expanded into other markets – including national security, enterprise, mobility, maritime and aviation – and disrupted the prevailing satellite communications sector.
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