Launch carrying Starlink V2 MiniStarlink V2 Mini is the larger, higher-capacity broadband satellite in SpaceX's Starlink network.
spacex-starlink-v2-mini SpaceX built the V2 Mini for its Starlink network. It is larger than the first generation, with more powerful antennas and bigger solar arrays, and it has four times the capacity for serving users. SpaceX launches them in batches on Falcon 9 rockets.
The satellite weighs about 800 kg at launch and has a body more than 4.1 m wide. Once in orbit it unfurls two solar array wings to a span of about 30 m. It manoeuvres with an electric Hall thruster fuelled by argon gas, the only material named for the satellite itself.
A broadband internet satellite in SpaceX's Starlink constellation, launched on Falcon 9 in batches. It is larger than the first generation, with more powerful phased array antennas and bigger solar arrays. It manoeuvres with an argon Hall thruster.
The body is more than 4.1 m wide. Two solar array wings unfurl from it to a span of about 30 m. A Hall thruster, an electric engine, uses argon gas as its propellant to manoeuvre the satellite in orbit.
Its phased array antennas are more powerful than those on older Starlink satellites. A new E-band system adds backhaul capacity, the link back into the wider network. To reduce brightness, SpaceX uses a combination of mirrors and a new type of low-reflectivity paint.
For the first satellites on Falcon 9, spacers and tension rods sit between the stacked satellites. The stack also has four deployment rod assemblies, each of two rods made of lightweight aluminium, 1.5 inches in diameter and about six metres long.
The gas propellant for the Hall thruster. It is the only material named for the satellite itself.
The deployment rods in the Falcon 9 launch stack, about six metres long. The alloy is not stated.
SpaceX builds the V2 Mini and launches it on Falcon 9 rockets. The first launch carried 21 satellites. Its argon Hall thruster is a SpaceX design. The V2 Mini grew out of the first-generation Starlink satellites and has four times their capacity for serving users. It belongs to the Gen2 constellation, whose first 7,500 satellites the US Federal Communications Commission has authorised to operate at 525, 530 and 535 km.
FCC authorised up to 7,500 Gen2 satellites at 525, 530 and 535 km
electric propulsion for on-orbit manoeuvring; not a catalog product
V2 Mini has four times the user capacity of earlier satellites
SpaceX does not publish what the structure, solar panels and cells, antennas, paint and wiring are made of. It also names no suppliers, and gives no details of the battery, star trackers or reaction wheels.
What is written above is built from these numbers and quotes. Each row links to the page it was taken from. Get all of it as JSON, or ask our MCP server.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass | About 800 kg (1,760 lb) at launch |
| Body width | More than 4.1 m (13 ft) |
| Solar array span | About 30 m (100 ft) |
| Total surface area | About 116 m2 |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 |
| Operating altitudes authorised for the first 7,500 Gen2 satellites | 525, 530 and 535 km |
| Design life assumed in the Gen2 filing | five years |
| Re-entry | fully demise on re-entry (SpaceX analysis) |
| User capacity versus earlier satellites | four times |
| V2 Mini Optimized (2025) mass | about 575 kg (1,267 lb), nearly 22 percent lighter |
| V2 Mini Optimized satellites per Falcon 9 | up to 29 |
| Laser link rate (V2 Mini Optimized) | up to 200 Gbps each |
Each material named in the sources: where it is used here, which other products use it, and its key numbers when its material page exists.
Used in 1 partHall thruster propellant
Used in 1 partDeployment rod assemblies (four, two rods each) for the Falcon 9 stack
Only the argon propellant is stated; structural materials are not published. Components, suppliers and links were added from public sources. A material is left blank where no source states it.
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hall thruster propellant“carry an argon-fueled electrical propulsion system” | argonargon | — | SpaceX-developed argon Hall thruster |
| Argon Hall-effect thruster uniton-orbit manoeuvring; first argon thrusters of their kind to operate in space“carry an argon-fueled electrical propulsion system using Hall thrusters for on-orbit maneuvering” | Not said | — | — |
| Cold-gas backup thruster modeventing gas to manoeuvre if the primary propulsion is lost“it can still vent gas to maneuver in a cold gas thruster mode” | Not said | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-reflectivity paint“a combination of mirrors and a new type of low-reflectivity paint” | Not said | — | — |
| Mirrorsreduce reflected sunlight, used together with the darker paint“a combination of mirrors and a new type of low-reflectivity paint” | Not said | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar array wings (2)“will unfurl two solar array wings” | Not said | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spacecraft body (bus)central body that carries the antennas and the two solar array wings“a spacecraft body more than 13 feet (4.1 meters) wide” | Not said | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phased array antennasuser-link antennas, more powerful than on older Starlink satellites“more powerful phased array antennas than older Starlink satellites” | Not said | — | — |
| E-band backhaul systemextra backhaul capacity between satellite and ground stations“introduce E-band for backhaul capacity” | Not said | — | — |
| Doppio antenna (V2 Mini Optimized, 2025)dual-band antenna on the lighter 2025 version“new Doppio antenna” | Not said | — | — |
| Optical inter-satellite links (laser terminals, three on the 2025 version)laser mesh between satellites, up to 200 Gbps each“feature three Optical Intersatellite Links” | Not said | — | — |
| Ku-band user-link beams (Gen2 filing)satellite to user terminal links“communications between its satellites and user terminals in the Ku-band” | Not said | — | — |
| Ka-band user and gateway beams (Gen2 filing)satellite to user terminal and gateway earth station links“both user terminals and gateway earth stations in the Ka-band” | Not said | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autonomous collision avoidance systemdefault mechanism for developing and executing avoidance manoeuvres“its autonomous collision avoidance system is the default mechanism for developing and executing collision avoidance maneuvers” | Not said | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deployment rod assemblies (four, two rods each) for the Falcon 9 stackhold the stacked satellites in place in the fairing and release them“the rods — which are made of lightweight aluminum and are only 1.5 inches in diameter and about six meters long” | lightweight aluminium (alloy not stated)aluminium | — | — |
| Spacers and tension rods between stacked satellites (initial Falcon 9 launches)hold the flat stack apart during ascent“it will use spacers and tension rods for the initial satellites deployed on its Falcon 9 launch vehicle” | Not said | — | — |
SpaceX does not publish structure, panel, solar-cell, antenna, paint or harness materials for V2 Mini; the only material stated in the source is the argon propellant. Quotes were retrieved through a text extractor because the site blocks direct download; they were not machine-checked against the page. Figures come from FCC filings as reported by Spaceflight Now. Nothing was inferred. More detail: SpaceX does not publish a V2 Mini bill of materials, solar-cell type, antenna substrate, structure, battery, star-tracker or reaction-wheel details for this satellite; the starlink.com technology page that would carry them returns no text to the fetcher, and no readable primary source was found for star trackers or reaction wheels on the V2 Mini. Laser-link, Doppio antenna and mass figures for the 2025 'V2 Mini Optimized' version are from Spaceflight Now coverage of SpaceX statements and describe a later, lighter variant than the 800 kg satellite in the entry. FCC rows describe the whole Gen2 constellation (Ku- and Ka-band beams, cold-gas mode, collision-avoidance, propellant budget), not the V2 Mini alone. No supplier is named for any V2 Mini part. The FCC order quotes were machine-checked against the downloaded PDF text; Spaceflight Now and Via Satellite quotes came through a text extractor and were not machine-checked. More detail: SpaceX does not publish a V2 Mini bill of materials, solar-cell type, antenna substrate, structure, battery, star-tracker or reaction-wheel details for this satellite; the starlink.com technology page that would carry them returns no text to the fetcher, and no readable primary source was found for star trackers or reaction wheels on the V2 Mini. Laser-link, Doppio antenna and mass figures for the 2025 'V2 Mini Optimized' version are from Spaceflight Now coverage of SpaceX statements and describe a later, lighter variant than the 800 kg satellite in the entry. FCC rows describe the whole Gen2 constellation (Ku- and Ka-band beams, cold-gas mode, collision-avoidance, propellant budget), not the V2 Mini alone. No supplier is named for any V2 Mini part. The FCC order quotes were machine-checked against the downloaded PDF text; Spaceflight Now and Via Satellite quotes came through a text extractor and were re-checked in a second fetch pass but not against a saved copy of the page.
Collected from public pages and documents, checked 4 Nov 2026.
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