Bigger, higher, cheaper: Space startup looks beyond LEO

While many satellite builders focus on small spacecraft for low-Earth orbit, one Los Angeles startup is thinking bigger and aiming farther, betting that falling launch costs will unlock higher orbits.

K2 sees a burgeoning market for medium-Earth orbit satellites with more onboard power and payload. The startup is designing a massive satellite bus meant to withstand MEO’s harsh radiation at a fraction of the cost of current products. 

This vision caught the attention of former Pentagon space policy chief John Plumb, who is joining the company as head of strategy. 

“Instead of going smaller, [we’re] going bigger, so building a very large satellite bus with a large payload mass and a tremendous amount of solar power, electrical power available to it, but then doing this for the radiation environment of MEO—which is the highest radiation environment, as opposed to LEO, which is a much lower one—and doing it at the cost that up until about now, you would associate with much smaller satellites. What if you could have a much more capable satellite at roughly the same cost as a much smaller one?” Plumb told Defense One. 

There’s been a major push within the government and industry to proliferate satellites in LEO, but less effort to bring costs down in MEO and geostationary orbits. Current large buses on the market that can produce 20 kilowatts of power cost between $100 to $200 million each, but K2 is aiming to deliver that for $15 million, Plumb said. 

Next year, K2 plans to launch its first mega-class satellite, capable of holding up to 1,000 kilograms of payload. Funded in part by a $60 million Pentagon contract, this Gravitas mission will be launched to LEO, demonstrate operations there, and then slowly head to MEO, powered by K2’s electric propulsion system. 

MEO is alluring because it’s harder to access than LEO, Plumb said, making satellites less vulnerable to missiles and other threats. And MEO is much less populated than LEO.

“I had some folks from other companies tell me MEO is the new LEO. I don't know how true that is or isn't, but I think it is part of the future. I think it's part of both the commercial and national security future, and I think this company is on the forefront of that,” Plumb said. 

The company aims to assemble its satellites in three months, shrinking the time by building a standard bus and solar panels, and producing most of the components in-house. Eventually, K2 plans to pump out 100 satellites per year in its new 181,000-square-foot factory in Torrance, California. The number of employees has roughly tripled over the past year as well, from around 30 to 90.

At his new post, Plumb said he intends to continue his work harnessing commercial innovation to advance national security. He joined K2 after serving as the first-ever assistant defense secretary for space policy, where he oversaw the drafting of the Pentagon’s commercial space strategy and space classification policy. 

If the Pentagon wants to better integrate commercial companies into space operations, Plumb said, the Space Force budget must increase over the next few years—and that money needs to go to new capabilities that can be delivered in three to five years, not legacy systems. And, he said, the national security community and space industry must realize that multiple orbits will be required to expand space capabilities and strengthen deterrence.

“K2 is not the only commercial company that can offer an interesting value to the military if the department really does get after the commercial space strategy. That's a journey, for the Pentagon and the Congress and industry together to understand how we can partner best to get the most value out. And I think that's really part of the push that we'll be seeing over the next few years on multiple fronts, and I'd like to be part of it,” Plumb said.