Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:K2 Space(opens in a new window)
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:K2 Space(opens in a new window)
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
go-ahead
EVs
Fintech
fundraise
widget
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
privateness
Robotics
Security
Social
infinite
startup
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
More from TechCrunch
result
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
K2 Spaceis wager that the future of outer space ironware will be magnanimous — really big .
The inauguration is building massive spacecraft under the assumption thatlaunch cost will proceed to dropas SpaceX ’s Starship and other heavy - lift vehicles come online . It looks like the Space Force is taking up their side of that bet , with K2 Space announcing Thursday that its first full satellite delegacy will take flight a number of Department of Defense payloads under a $ 60 million declaration .
That mission , called Gravitas , will vanish no earlier than February 2026 . The satellite will aviate on SpaceX ’s Transporter-16 rideshare missionary work , where it will transport multiple home security loading . The space vehicle will conduct mathematical operation in small Earth orbit ( LEO ) before raise its orbit to medium Earth scope ( MEO ) . MEO , which is between LEO and geosynchronous orbit , has “ historically been an incredibly challenging compass to run in , ” K2 Space co - founder and CEO Karan Kunjur read in an interview .
To even get there , ballistic capsule wheeler dealer typically either need to equip their satellites with powerful propulsion systems or pay a premium for a launching that takes them directly to the target orbit . Once there , the spacecraft must be subject of surviving the high radiation syndrome environment for the duration of the mission . But the Space Force has been building out assets in MEO , chiefly for projectile tracking and word of advice , but also to enhance the Global Positioning System ( GPS ) web .
“ MEO offers another level of resilience , ” Kunjur said . “ If you think about a multi - orbit strategy or multi - orbit architecture , what you want , if you require resilience , is to have asset that are in LEO , assets that are in MEO , and assets that are in GEO . We really at K2 believe in that future . ”
Kunjur , who founded the company with his brother Neel , called the contract a “ step change ” for the business . The $ 60 million in funding include a 1:1:2 mix of administration funds , Small Business Innovation Research matching funds , and private fund — that means $ 30 million came from private backers , an amount that nearly rival the inauguration ’s $ 50 million Series A that closed in February .
Venture investors and the DoD have been pull in by K2 Space ’s proposal for turgid hardware — the companionship ’s Mega stratum artificial satellite feature a huge 3 - meter - by-3 - measure consignment bay — at a toll of less than $ 15 million per planet , with lead time of less than three months . These figures map a substitution class - shift change from traditional big satellite procurement .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
The Torrance , California - establish inauguration ’s fresh orbiter computer architecture means that a material percentage of the ballistic capsule components are being build in - house . These include matter like response wheel , flight of stairs reckoner , solar arrays , and the 20 - kW galvanizing propulsion organization , which will be among the most sinewy to ever fly on orbit . The supply strand for these components at a monetary value - in force damage point just does n’t exist , Kunjur suppose — which is why K2 Space is setting up those manufacture lines on its own .
“ The challenge is not only designing it to hit the performance that this delegacy requires , but also design it in a way that we can mass acquire it , ” he said . “ It ’s not like we ’re going to build one , use it for Gravitas , this mission , and then redesign it for mass yield . No , the idea is to build this so that when the first one derive off the line , the second one is right behind it , the third one is behind it , and so on . ”
The company will also fly several engineering sales demonstrator on SpaceX ’s approaching Transporter-12 mission in January , for a mission continuance that is expected to last no more than a few calendar month .
