Many MindedSpaceX folds a battery into its laptop-sized Starlink Mini 2 terminal
SpaceX has announced Starlink Mini 2, a satellite internet terminal that combines a dish, a Wi-Fi router and a battery in a single laptop-sized unit. Preorders are open by invitation to select US customers, and the Starlink website says availability is coming soon to more customers and countries.
SpaceX says a full charge runs the Mini 2 for up to 4.5 hours. Runtime can be extended by hot-swapping extra batteries, which are sold separately. The dish can also be powered over USB-C from a 60W source. It is 23.1mm thick, compared with 38.5mm for the original Mini, and weighs about 3.5 pounds, slightly more than the original because of the battery. It keeps an IP67 dust and water resistance rating, so it can be used outdoors.
Pricing has not come through an official announcement. Users on X who posted screenshots of their order invitations say it costs $999, including one year of Roam Unlimited service that SpaceX values at $2,100.
Why it matters: connectivity that carries its own power, and can keep running by swapping batteries or drawing from a USB-C source, is easier to use where the grid is absent or down. That serves remote communities, travelers and emergency response, and a bundled year of service lowers the entry cost for those users.
What to watch: whether the $999 figure is confirmed, how the 4.5-hour claim holds up in independent testing, what the spare batteries cost, and how quickly invitations widen beyond select US customers.
Source: The Verge