The test satellites that became an empire
On a February morning in 2018, two small satellites named Tintin A and Tintin B rode into orbit aboard a Falcon 9, tucked alongside a Spanish observation satellite as secondary payload . They were test articles, nothing more — identical twins built to prove SpaceX could manufacture satellites at scale, communicate with ground terminals, and operate in the crowded radio spectrum without creating interference. MicroSat 2a and 2b, as they were formally designated, massed a few hundred kilogrammes between them and carried experimental phased-array antennas and electric propulsion systems . They were supposed to validate a concept, then deorbit.