SpaceX Starts Selling Starlink Mini Officially; All Details

SpaceX’s Starlink service, already renowned for providing internet access to boats, planes, vanlifers, Amazonian villages, and rural homes across over 75 countries, is now catering to backpackers. The newly introduced Starlink Mini is a compact, DC-powered device, roughly the size of a thick laptop, with an integrated Wi-Fi router. Despite its small size and lower power consumption, it still delivers impressive speeds of over 100Mbps.

“This product will change the world,” proclaimed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on X, highlighting that it takes less than five minutes to set up.

The Starlink Mini kit uses only 20-40W on average, a significant reduction from the 33-62W of the older Standard Actuated dish with a separate AC-powered Wi-Fi router. This means that with a power bank like the Anker Prime 27,650mAh (99.54Wh), you can run the Mini dish for two to three hours. Smaller 10,000mAh (40Wh) portable batteries can power it for just over an hour. The device requires a USB-C PD power source with a minimum rating of 100W (20V/5A).

Measuring 11.75 x 10.2 x 1.45 inches (298.5 x 259 x 38.5mm) and weighing 2.43 pounds (1.1kg) — or 3.37 pounds (1.53kg) with the 49.2-foot (15m) DC power cable and kickstand — the Mini dish is lightweight and portable. Its IP67 rating ensures it’s protected from dust and rain, and it can withstand short periods of water immersion.

In the US, the Starlink Mini is an add-on to Residential plans. The Mini kit is priced at $599, which is $100 more than the standard dish, with an additional $30 per month for the Mini Roam service on top of the existing $120 Residential plans. This setup provides users with up to 50GB of mobile data each month, with the option to purchase more at $1 per GB, according to early-access invitations sent to some US Starlink customers.

While Starlink Mini is new to the US, it’s already available in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama. In these countries, users can purchase Mini Service or Mobile-Regional Service plans without data or speed caps. However, in-motion and ocean use are not permitted. SpaceX plans to expand Starlink Mini to more markets in the future.

“Our goal is to reduce the price of Starlink, especially for those around the world where connectivity has been unaffordable or completely unavailable,” states the Starlink support page. “In regions with high usage, like the US, where Starlink Mini places additional demand on the satellite network, we are offering a limited number of the Starlink Mini Kits to start at a higher price point.”

Starlink Mini has the potential to transform internet accessibility, providing a cost-effective, shareable internet service that efficiently uses DC battery power. This makes it ideal for remote villages using solar generators, soldiers in the field, or adventurers like bike packers and overlanders exploring off-the-grid locations.