Following on from last week’s Falcon Heavy launch, SpaceX is making final preparations for the launch on February 17th for the first pair of prototype satellites for Elon Musk’s giant “Starlink” constellation of broadband satellites.

These first two, dubbed Microsat 2a and 2b, will be orbited on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

These two small satellites will be secondary cargo on the launch. The main passenger is a Spanish Earth observation satellite.

SpaceX will use the small prototypes to test transmission and signal relay characteristics.

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