A battery-powered Starlink Mini is likely on the way

Code in Starlink’s latest firmware suggests SpaceX may soon launch a version of its smallest Internet dish with a built-in battery. The battery-powered Starlink Mini will provide unrestricted portability to truck crews, emergency responders and anyone who wants fast, low-latency internet from virtually anywhere on the planet.

University researcher Jinwei Zhao spotted a number of strings pointing to the built-in battery in the May firmware release, according to engadget. PCMag. The “DishBatteryStats Message” line suggests code designed to return specific fields from a built-in battery, including the current_charge_status. If the dish is simply connected to a third-party power bank, the Starlink firmware will not be able to read the exact battery percentage or charging status natively.

The firmware also contains an icon indicating three distinct power states, indicating that the unit can operate from a direct USB-C power source, its internal battery, or both simultaneously. This type of pass-through support would increase battery health to prevent the platter from becoming an expensive paperweight after a few hundred cycles.

Currently, the Starlink Mini must be plugged into a wall AC outlet or portable battery to stick to those 10,000-plus satellites operating in low Earth orbit. You can also buy batteries like the fantastic PeakDo LinkPower series, which mount directly to the back of the Starlink Mini. But the PeakDo software is out of date, and the batteries are expensive compared to external power banks with similar specifications.

The Starlink Mini with a built-in battery should work seamlessly in the Starlink app, be backed by SpaceX’s warranty, and allow the dish to be built as compactly as possible — likely around an airline-friendly 99Wh battery, which could produce more than five hours of runtime based on my testing.