LA Hard Tech Spotlight: K2 Space
LA Hard Tech Spotlight: K2 Space
Satellites for a mass-abundant future
Building on last week’s LA Hard Tech Spotlight, we present another exciting satellite bus manufacturing startup. Karan and Neel Kunjur from K2 Space have a unique take on how orbital opportunities will unfold over the next decade. Spoiler alert: it’s heavy.
Introducing K2 Space
CEO & Key People: Karan Kunjur, Neel Kunjur
Founded: 2022
Torrance, CA
Manufacturer of large, heavy satellite buses to leverage cheaper heavy-lift launch capabilities.
The team at K2 Space believes we’re heading into a future where mass is no longer the critical constraint for satellites. They would know—co-founder and CTO Neel Kunjur was a mission director at SpaceX and built Dragon avionics systems. But before we look ahead, let’s do a quick look back.
SpaceX pioneered rocket reusability with Falcon 9 over the last decade. Because of them, commercial launch costs fell, and launch frequency increased. Space operators started designing large constellations of small satellites instead of spending millions of dollars concentrating capabilities into a few large, exquisite vehicles. Satellites started proliferating in low Earth orbit (LEO) for communications and Earth observation, and the number of vehicles in space has grown exponentially.
K2 bets this paradigm shift is a transitional state for the industry. With Falcon 9 launch rates increasing and fully reusable super-heavy launch vehicles like Starship on the horizon, constraining spacecraft for mass may not be as important anymore. In this mass-abundant future, they believe satellite capabilities will re-emerge as the most critical factor in satellite demand.
K2 is completely reimagining the satellite bus for this new world, redesigning it to be massive enough to support high-power, high-aperture, and high-payload use cases using cost-efficient materials and components. For example, traditional buses use expensive, radiation-hardened space-grade electronics, and K2 uses cheap, radiation-tolerant commercial electronics with heavy aluminum shielding.
Their first product is the K2 Mega Class bus. It has a payload capacity of 1 metric ton and 20kW array power. Traditional satellites of this scale could cost up to $200M, but the K2 Mega Class will cost operators $15M. The bus is designed to be compact and stackable, so a Falcon 9 could carry 10 Mega Class satellites to orbit at once, and Starship would be able to take 40. Their bus and the SpaceX launch platform open a new universe of opportunities for space operators.
The Kunjur brothers are thinking BIG. After all, K2 is named after the concept of a Type II civilization on the Kardashev scale, where humanity achieves the ability to directly consume a star’s energy. (Their Dyson Sphere-inspired logo says it all.)
While Kardashev Type II may be far away, this team has the experience and vision to build the next great aerospace manufacturing company. CEO Karan helped build an AI company that sold in 2021 after a career at BCG, leading turnarounds, acquisitions, and new ventures. His brother and CTO, Neel, spent 5.5 years at SpaceX building Dragon avionics systems and serving as Mission Director for Dragon missions. K2 has raised $16M from First Round, Republic Capital, Also Capital, Countdown Capital, and Alpine Space Ventures to execute their vision of delivering high-power, low-cost spacecraft to unlock new opportunities in the space economy.
Q&A with CEO, Karan Kunjur
What had to be true so K2 could exist? Why now?
Since the first successful orbital launch in 1957, we have operated in an era of mass constraint - what we could do in space was limited by how much we could launch into space. With the rise of launch vehicles like Falcon 9, Starship, Terran-R, and others, we are about to move from an era of mass constraint to an era of mass abundance. In this new era of mass abundance, we have an opportunity to do a hard reset on how we build satellites. K2 Space is the first company to reset the satellite for this new mass-abundant future.
How will the world change when you succeed?
Almost every single application in space relies on a combination of power, mass, or aperture. The historic mass constraint meant we had to trade off one of those capabilities with cost. With the K2 bus, we found a way to deploy significant power, mass, and aperture at a fraction of the cost of legacy satellites. Our constellations will be used to beam down terabits per second of data, monitor rising sea levels globally, and eventually provide the backbone for all future space development.
What motivates you to build this company every day?
A deep, resounding belief that this platform needs to exist. Considering how much humanity has been able to achieve when we've been fighting against the mass constraint, we are excited to see what's possible when that constraint no longer exists. Our logo is a Dyson Sphere for a reason.
Why is LA the right place for you to build your business?
The community in LA is incredible. From the legacy Aerospace players to SpaceX to the booming startup community - it does feel like a modern-day Renaissance is happening (we're just missing a Pope and a few Medicis). The optimism is contagious, the willingness to help each other is high, and the speed at which people are executing their vision is inspiring.
Behind every successful person, there are people who play or have played significant roles in making it happen. Who’s one person who has helped you get to this point? How have they helped?
As much fun as it is to take "Founder Photos" with your brother, our company wouldn't exist without the people on the team who made the jump to join K2, even when it was just a few PowerPoint slides, hopes, and dreams. Whether it's Matt Croce—a 27-yr Special Ops veteran—who was our employee Number 1, Drew Miller—an ex-SpaceX engineering leader—who was our first engineering hire, or the 21 other people who have jumped on over the past nine months, the impact this company makes will be directly tied to the team we're bringing together. We continue to be in awe at every new engineer and operator who comes to help build K2.
Thanks to Karan and Neel for spending time with us over the last couple of years. We’re excited about what you’re building and can’t wait to see the factory.
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