TORRANCE, Calif. - K2 Space Corporation, a satellite producer, has announced the completion of two major milestones on the path to its first full satellite launch, the K2 GRAVITAS Mission in early 2026 to Medium Earth Orbit (MEO).
K2 Space successfully completed the company's first in-space demonstration mission, launched in January 2025. Many of the satellite components designed and built in-house achieved heritage on this mission, including the flight computer, reaction wheel, embedded avionics, and flight software—all optimized for the harsh radiation environments of MEO. The successful validation of these components in space reduces the technical risk for the company's 2026 GRAVITAS mission.
Following the demonstration mission, K2 Space successfully test fired its 20kW Krypton-fed Hall-effect thruster at full power, marking an advancement in electric propulsion (EP) technology. The K2 thruster will be the most powerful Hall-effect thruster ever flown in space, enabling the K2 Mega-Class satellite to complete an orbit raise from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to MEO with EP in less than 90 days.
By increasing the number of satellites deployed per launch by 4x, each of which can rapidly raise itself to orbit, K2 Space is able to minimize the number of launches and time required to field a MEO constellation. The thruster was test fired at the company's Torrance headquarters in a custom-built propulsion test chamber.
Karan Kunjur, CEO of K2 Space, said, "These milestones are a testament to our team's engineering prowess and innovation mindset. The successful completion of our first in-space demonstration and test firing of our 20kW Hall-effect thruster paves the way for scalable, high-performance satellites that meet the demands of both national security and commercial applications."
GRAVITAS, K2's 2026 mission, will operate a K2 Mega-Class satellite at several different altitudes in MEO—a largely untapped orbital regime with unique value for both national security and commercial applications. The Mega-Class satellite platform leveraged for this mission will pair 20kW of onboard power with true multi-orbit capabilities.
