It looks like SpaceX is gearing up to release a new and improved version of the Starlink satellite dish. Earlier this week, the company asked the FCC to grant a license for a “next-generation” user terminal designed to connect to the Starlink satellite internet system.
“SpaceX has developed the next generation of its user terminal,” the company wrote in an application. The terminal, or what amounts to a satellite dish, still relies on “advanced phased array” antennas to communicate with the Starlink satellites in orbit. “However, [the new units] do so with a slightly smaller antenna than previously used,” so the next-gen hardware may feature a smaller dish size over the current version, which is 23 inches in diameter.
SpaceX is requesting a license to operate the new dishes across the US as soon as possible. “Granting this application would serve the public interest by authorizing a new generation of the ground-based component for SpaceX’s satellite system that will enhance the broadband services available to customers throughout the United States,” the company added.
Interestingly, SpaceX’s application notes the next-generation dish will span three different models, dubbed “UTA-205/206/207.” The hardware’s antennas, at 2.44 watts, also appear to use less power than the current-generation UTA-201 Starlink terminal, which runs at 4.06 watts.
The application arrives days after SpaceX also asked the FCC for permission to test an experimental Starlink terminal that appears to operate over two dish antennas instead of one.
It’s unclear if the experiment has any connection to the next-generation Starlink terminals. However, SpaceX previously said it plans to upgrade the technology over time with new hardware. “Like other novel technology products, the Starlink Kit will eventually become technologically obsolete. From time to time, customers may need to purchase a newer model for optimal Services,” says an online notice for Starlink, which is currently still in beta testing.
SpaceX is aiming to roll out Starlink for near global coverage this year. However, one challenge has been reducing the cost for the Starlink dish, which costs subscribers $499.
In March, SpaceX also filed an FCC application to operate Starlink dishes on moving vehicles through a separate set of user terminals, which have model numbers “UTA 202/203/204.”
