Space X is in a troubled phase of further development of its space internet, and the new Starlink V2 Mini satellites should be the answer to four times the capacity of the original satellites.

And it is because Starlink access speeds are decreasing as more users join the service, especially in the United States, and there is currently a long waiting list. Space internet or ability to offer broadband internet services from space It’s a new playground for the telecom industry, and although Elon Musk’s company is leading all the projects, it still needs to improve its infrastructure.

Starlink V2 and V2 “Mini”

The second generation satellites by Starlink were developed in two versions. The larger V2s are designed to be launched from a SpaceX spacecraft. But this launch system is not ready yet and the V2 Mini will be the first to go into orbit as they can be launched from Falcon 9 rockets.

“The V2 Minis are smaller than the V2 satellites (hence the name), but don’t let the name fool you. The V2 Minis feature more advanced phased antennas and the use of E-band for backhaul, which will allow Starlink to deliver 4 times more capacity per satellite than previous versions.”they explain from SpaceX.

Despite their name, these “Minis” are much larger and heavier than the first generation. They weigh 800 kg, three times more, and are almost four meters in size.

Let’s say the company already has some 3700 first generation satellites in orbit at an altitude of 550 km, although the original idea was to raise them up to 1,150 km. They are about the size of a shoebox and operate on a mesh network that operates in the spectrum from 40 GHz to 75 GHz to communicate with each other and send a signal to ground receivers using Ka/Ku radio frequencies.

Elon Musk promised speeds up to 1 Gbps and – most importantly – to cover the entire planet, but neither is achievable and it is likely that many launches will be required for second-generation satellites to have a noticeable impact on service performance.

SpaceX has already implemented pricing changes to manage its capacity constraints, telling residents in capacity-constrained areas last week that the price of their monthly service would increase from $110 to $120, while users in “overcapacity” areas would get the price. reduction. The amount of data served has also been capped, and customers who exceed 1TB in any given month will have a lower speed unless they pay more for additional high-speed data.

Space Internet projects are interesting because they will be able to offer broadband access anywhere on the planet, but it is clear that this is technically and commercially impossible today. Meanwhile, 6G, the next generation of mobile broadband networks, is scheduled to launch on Earth in 2028.