SpaceX opened preorders for the Starlink Mini 2 on Monday, putting its battery-powered portable terminal on sale at $999 and bundling one year of internet service with it. The company says that included year of service is worth $2,100.
That is why the new dish is drawing attention now. The Starlink Mini 2 ships with its own internal cell, can run for up to 4.5 hours without being plugged in, and weighs 3.53 lbs, or 1.6 kg, including the battery. SpaceX says it can go from cold start to online in 60 seconds, and owners can hot-swap in a fresh pack when the battery runs low or keep it online through USB-C Power Delivery.
For people who have been waiting for a truly portable Starlink terminal, the preorder page is the first concrete price tag. Sawyer Merritt shared specs for the Mini 2 soon after the announcement, and Dirty Tesla posted order invitation screenshots showing the $999 offer and the included year of service. That matters because the bundle changes the upfront cost picture for buyers who might otherwise compare the device only as hardware.
The timing also helps explain the search interest. Elon Musk previewed two slimmer Starlink terminals on stage in June 2026, and references to a second-generation Mini with a four-cell lithium battery and USB-C Power Delivery input surfaced in July 2026. SpaceX is now turning those hints into something buyers can actually order, even if only by invitation for now.
There is still one question that matters for people who want to use it as a real travel dish: how it performs in daily use. Firmware analysis from dishytech.com suggested the Mini 2's transmit duty cycle could be meaningfully lower than the original Mini's, which could mean slower upload speeds even if the smaller terminal is easier to carry and power. The original Mini required a wall outlet, a power bank or a vehicle 12V tap, so the battery in the new version fixes a practical problem while leaving open the question of how much speed is being traded away.
SpaceX has put a smaller, battery-equipped dish on the market and attached a price that includes a year of service, but it has not yet said when preorder buyers beyond the first invitations will get wider retail access. For now, the Starlink Mini 2 is less a finished mass-market product than a test of how many buyers are willing to pay for portability first and sort out the speed trade-off later.
