SpaceX has unveiled a new Starlink satellite dish, sporting a new rectangular design for customers in the United States. The company’s website is showing the new design for visitors showing U.S. IP addresses.
Canadian visitors, for example, are still seeing the old design, as the new dish is not available outside the U.S. yet.
This new dish is lighter than before as it now weighs 9.2 lbs (4.2 kg) versus 16 lbs (7.3 kg) of the old circular dish. It doesn’t have an ethernet port but there is an adapter available as an accessory, which is a downgrade compared to its predecessor. You can now also detach the cable from the satellite dish itself.
The standard cord that comes with the new rectangular dish is shorter than before at 75 feet (versus 100 feet).
Here’s are the three modes of your Starlink dish according to the install guide:
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the “pattern on the Starlink router is orbital transfer ellipse from Earth to Mars.”
Pattern on the Starlink router is orbital transfer ellipse from Earth to Mars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2021
Here are some relevant PDF files for the new Starlink dish:
The new rectangular Starlink dish also can be mounted in five different ways. Check them out below:
Pipe adapter mount: “Designed to attach to any pole with a max diameter of 2.5” (64 mm). Slide adapter over the top of the existing pole, fasten provided screws, and drop Starlink in,” explains SpaceX.
Short wall mount: “Designed for installation on an exterior wall, near the top of the gable. Drilling required.”
Long wall mount ($45 USD): “Designed for installation on an exterior wall near the top of the gable; extra length provides clearance of overhang when needed. Drilling required.”
Ground pole mount: “Designed for in-ground installation when roof or wall mounting is not possible; requires digging.”
Pivot mount: “Designed for installation on shingled roofs, recommend installing closer to edge for cable routing. Not recommended for tile, slate, and clay roofing.”
The new rectangular design is different compared to the previous round design. Starlink is warning customers there are shipping delays on new dishes due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage. As for the availability of the new Starlink rectangular dish, it’s only for the U.S. at the moment, according to the company’s website.
Also new are cable lengths of 75 feet and 150 feet ($85 USD) as accessories for this new rectangular Starlink dish. Another accessory for the rectangular dish is an ethernet adapter ($20 USD), to let you connect a device directly to the Starlink Router for a wired connection, with up to 1 Gbps speeds. There’s also a new cable routing kit and masonry routing kit for this new rectangular Starlink dish as well.
You can visit Starlink.com to check out the new rectangular dish for yourself (if you’re in the U.S.).
