Photo: Tony Webster, 2023, via Flickr and Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
For two years, the Starlink Mini had one awkward habit. It was small enough to slide into a backpack, but it still needed a cable to a wall outlet, a vehicle socket or a hefty power bank before it could talk to a single satellite. On Tuesday, November 10, 2026, SpaceX fixed that. The Starlink Mini 2 carries its own clip-on battery, charges over USB-C, and, the company says, gets you online in about 60 seconds with nothing but a clear view of the sky.
The short version: the Mini 2 is thinner, has Wi-Fi 6 and a removable 71 Wh battery rated for up to 4.5 hours. Right now you can only get it by invitation in the United States, as a $999 bundle that includes a year of Roam Unlimited service, with shipping expected to start in mid-December. A standalone price hasn’t been announced, and early reports suggest the new dish drops the original Mini’s Ethernet port. Here is what we know, what is still unclear, and who should wait.
Introducing Mini 2, the next-generation portable Starlink. Get up to 4.5 hours of connectivity on a single charge with the quick-swap battery, or plug in with USB-C. (Starlink on X, November 10, 2026)
Starlink Mini 2 price and release date
The launch offer is a bundle, not a dish. Starlink’s first invitations, shared by customers on X and reported by The Verge, ask $999 plus tax for the Mini 2 kit and one year of Roam Unlimited service, which Starlink values at $2,100. You reserve with a refundable $100 deposit, and the remaining $899 plus tax is charged when the kit ships. Starlink estimates shipments will begin in mid-December, and it says the price and the included year of service are exclusive to the preorder invitation (Notebookcheck).
Read the fine print before you say yes. According to the invitation email described by the Mobile Internet Resource Center, if you cancel the service after the 30-day return window, the unused months are not refunded, and the Mini 2 can’t be moved onto an existing service line. After the year ends, service continues at whatever Starlink charges at the time.
What about a cheaper, hardware-only price? A day before the launch, the YouTube channel DISHYtech spotted entries in the backend code of Starlink’s website for a "Mini 2 Beta Kit" at $249 and a spare battery at $50. Those numbers have not been confirmed by SpaceX, and they appear to belong to a beta program rather than a public price list, so treat them as a hint rather than a promise. For comparison, the original Mini now starts at $149 in the United States (The Next Web).
Outside the U.S.: there is no date or price yet. Starlink’s page says only that the Mini 2 is "coming soon" to more customers and countries.
Starlink Mini vs. Mini 2: the specs side by side
The new dish is slightly larger across its face but much thinner, and it weighs more because of the battery. The figures below come from Starlink’s original Mini specification sheet and its Mini 2 product page as reported on launch day.
| Spec | Starlink Mini (2024) | Starlink Mini 2 (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 298.5 × 259 × 38.5 mm (11.75 × 10.2 × 1.45 in) | 314 × 263 × 23.1 mm (12.36 × 10.35 × 0.91 in) |
| Weight | 1.10 kg (2.43 lb); 1.16 kg with kickstand | 1.6 kg (3.53 lb) with battery and kickstand |
| Battery | None built in | Removable 71 Wh pack (490 g), up to 4.5 hours |
| Power input | DC barrel jack, 12–48 V, 60 W | USB-C, 60 W |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 5, up to 112 m² (1,200 sq ft) | Wi-Fi 6, up to 167 m² (1,800 sq ft) |
| Ethernet | One port (via Starlink Plug) | None shown so far |
| Weatherproofing | IP67 | IP67 |
| Mounting | Kickstand, pipe adapter | Kickstand, 1/4"-20 tripod thread |
Both dishes are listed with a 110° field of view. A few launch-day reports gave the Mini 2 a 55° figure instead, but Starlink’s own product page says 110°, according to Space Internet Solutions, which checked the page against the announcement. If that number matters for your site, look again before you buy.
What’s new, in plain terms
A battery you can swap without tools
The 71 Wh pack clips onto the back of the dish with a multi-pin weatherproof connector, and it comes off without tools. It has its own USB-C port and LED charge lights, so you can charge a spare on its own and swap it in when the first one runs down. The battery can also put out up to 60 W over USB-C, which means the same pack can top up a phone or a laptop when you are not using the dish.
Starlink’s 4.5-hour figure is a best case. Sky view, weather and anything else you charge from the pack will shorten it. A second battery could, in theory, stretch the dish through a typical eight-hour workday.
Image: frame from "Starlink Mini Overland and Camping Power Testing" by Overland Calling, 2024, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Why 4.5 hours is interesting. Divide 71 watt-hours by 4.5 hours and you get an average draw of roughly 16 watts. Starlink rates the original Mini at an average of 25 to 40 watts. Starlink hasn’t explained the gap, but a July 2026 hardware leak from engineer Oleg Kutkov, reported by Notebookcheck, offers a clue: the Mini 2’s transmit duty cycle was reportedly cut from 75 percent to 11 percent, with slightly lower transmit power and 549 antenna elements instead of 571. Transmitting less often saves battery, but it would likely mean slower sustained uploads. Until owners run real speed tests, that is the biggest open question about the new dish.
USB-C instead of a barrel plug
The original Mini used a DC barrel connector and a proprietary cable. The Mini 2 charges and runs over a common 60 W USB-C connection, and the box includes a 60 W USB-C charger and a 3-meter (10-foot) USB-C cable. A physical power button replaces the old plug-in-and-go startup.
Thinner, with Wi-Fi 6
At 23.1 mm, the Mini 2 is about 40 percent thinner than the original’s 38.5 mm, which makes it easier to slip into a laptop bag. The built-in router moves from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6, and the rated coverage area grows from 1,200 to 1,800 square feet. That helps in a camper or on a campsite, but it won’t make the satellite link itself any faster.
What’s missing: the Ethernet port
The biggest step backward may be one you can’t see in the photos. The original Mini has a latching Ethernet port that lets you skip its built-in router and plug the dish straight into a better one, which is how many RV and boat owners pair Starlink with a cellular router. Starlink has not listed or shown an Ethernet port on the Mini 2, and the Mobile Internet Resource Center notes that the new shape also won’t fit the Peplink Antenna MAX-S, a rooftop enclosure built around the original Mini.
Full specifications haven’t been published yet, so it’s possible a wired option turns up. For now, if your setup depends on Ethernet, the original Mini is the safer choice.
What we know, and what’s still unclear
What we know
Battery: a removable 71 Wh pack rated for up to 4.5 hours, sold with the kit, with spares sold separately.
Power: 60 W USB-C in for the dish, and up to 60 W USB-C out from the battery.
Build: 1.6 kg with battery and kickstand, 23.1 mm thick, IP67, with a fold-out kickstand and a standard camera-tripod thread.
Availability: invitation-only U.S. preorders at $999 with a year of Roam Unlimited, shipping from about mid-December.
What’s still unclear
The real price: what the dish and a spare battery will cost on their own once the preorder window closes.
Upload speeds: whether the reported transmit cut shows up as slower uploads in everyday use.
Wired networking: whether there is any Ethernet option at all.
The original Mini’s future: Starlink hasn’t said whether it will keep selling the first Mini alongside the new one.
Photo: SpaceX, 2019, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Why SpaceX is pushing portable dishes now
Starlink has grown fast. The Next Web reports that its subscriber count more than doubled to 10.3 million in the year to March 2026, though average revenue per user fell. Portable, battery-powered hardware opens a different market: campers, van owners, sailors and people who want a backup line when the home connection drops, the same people Starlink’s Roam plans are built for. Elon Musk was seen with the Mini 2 as early as June, alongside the new V5 standard dish, and SpaceX’s finance chief said on an October earnings call that the company had been stocking retail inventory for a holiday push.
Competition is coming too. Amazon’s satellite internet service, Amazon Leo, is getting closer to its own beta launch, and a year of prepaid service locks Mini 2 buyers into Starlink through late 2027. The constellation itself keeps growing as well: the Starship flight SpaceX is preparing this week is meant to carry the larger V3 Starlink satellites, which you can read about in our guide to Starship Flight 15.
Should you buy the Mini 2, or stick with the original?
Wait for the Mini 2 if you want a grab-and-go kit for day trips, hikes, beaches, festivals or job sites, and you hate carrying a separate power bank and cables. A dish, a battery and a phone are the whole setup.
Take the $999 bundle if you already plan to pay for Roam Unlimited for a full year. Starlink values that service at $2,100, so the hardware is effectively thrown in. If you only travel a few weekends a year, the math doesn’t work.
Stick with the original Mini if you mount the dish permanently on an RV or boat, run it from a 12-volt system, need Ethernet, or upload a lot of video. At $149 it is far cheaper, and third-party batteries for it already exist.
Already own a Mini? There’s no need to replace one that works. Starlink is also running a separate deal: new customers who sign up for a Roam plan by November 30 get 30 percent off, with plans starting at $38.50 a month, according to Notebookcheck.
Photo: Horacio Cambeiro, 2025, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Quick questions
Can you take the Starlink Mini 2 battery on a plane?
The battery is rated at 71 Wh, under the 100 Wh limit the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration sets for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries without airline approval. Spare batteries must go in your carry-on, never in checked bags, with the terminals protected from short circuits. Check your airline’s own rules too, since some are stricter.
Does the Mini 2 work while driving?
Starlink markets Roam Unlimited for in-motion use at speeds up to 100 mph, and the leaked firmware shows the Mini 2 configured for in-motion use with GPS. Starlink hasn’t published detailed in-motion guidance for the new dish yet.
Do you need a subscription?
Yes. Like the original Mini, the Mini 2 needs a Starlink plan to connect. In the United States the Mini is used with a Roam plan, and the launch bundle includes one year of Roam Unlimited.
The bottom line
The Starlink Mini 2 fixes the original Mini’s biggest annoyance: you can finally carry satellite internet without carrying a power supply. It costs you some things in return, most likely the Ethernet port and possibly some upload speed, and the only way to buy one this year is a $999 package with a year of service attached. If you live out of a van, that bundle may be a bargain. If you mostly want backup internet at home or a rooftop RV install, the $149 original is still the smarter buy until Starlink announces a standalone price and owners publish real-world tests.
Related on aglena: When Space Junk Makes More Space Junk: The Kessler Syndrome, Explained, Sunlight on Demand: The Fight Over Reflect Orbital’s Space Mirrors
Further reading
Amazon Basics 60-inch Lightweight Tripod with Bag
A light, inexpensive tripod for cameras and phones. The Mini 2 has a standard 1/4"-20 tripod thread, but check any tripod’s load rating against the dish’s 1.6 kg before mounting it.
Reentry by Eric Berger
Ars Technica’s space editor tells the story of SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, the rockets that made launching thousands of Starlink satellites affordable.
Celestron UpClose G2 10×50 Binoculars
Affordable 10×50 binoculars, good for spotting a fresh string of Starlink satellites crossing the sky after a launch, or simply for stargazing on a camping trip.
Celestron SkyMaster 25×70 Binoculars
Big 70 mm astronomy binoculars for a closer look at the Moon, star clusters and passing satellites from a dark campsite. Pair them with a tripod for steady views.
