Photo credit: arstechnica.com
The financial outlay for this satellite bus remains confidential, though estimates suggest it ranges from $100 million to $150 million. This high cost is largely attributed to Lockheed Martin’s reliance on external suppliers for most satellite components, including critical elements like reaction wheels.
“Lockheed excels in executing missions that have intricate specifications,” noted Kunjur. “However, their approach to constructing larger, more complex spacecraft hasn’t evolved significantly over the past 15 to 20 years.”
Innovation Through Vertical Integration
K2 is striving to transform the current satellite manufacturing landscape. For instance, the reaction wheels provided by Honeywell Aerospace cost between $500,000 to $1 million each when supplied to Lockheed. In contrast, K2 has developed its fourth version of an internally manufactured reaction wheel, managing to reduce expenses to just $35,000. Kunjur highlighted that approximately 80 percent of K2’s satellite assembly is done in-house, emphasizing their vertical integration strategy.
The company is now engaged in the development of its inaugural “Mega Class” satellite bus, designed to compete with Lockheed’s LM2100 by offering 20 kW of power and a payload capacity of 1,000 kg. This new bus architecture is also stackable, allowing for ten units to fit within a Falcon 9 payload fairing and about 50 within the larger Starship’s fairing. The standout feature remains its pricing—K2 intends to market its satellite bus at a significantly reduced cost of $15 million.
The U.S. government’s interest in this innovation is evident. Recently, K2 announced a $60 million contract with the U.S. Space Force, slated to kick off the launch of its first Mega Class satellite by early 2026. The “Gravitas” mission aims to showcase K2’s satellite bus capabilities in hosting multiple experiments and executing orbital maneuvers from low-Earth orbit to mid-Earth orbit, which is several thousand kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
While the Mega Class satellite presents an appealing option for both governmental and commercial entities—its affordability potentially allowing for the establishment of larger constellations in middle and geostationary orbits—Kunjur emphasized that the driving force behind the founding of K2 stemmed from a desire to facilitate more frequent scientific missions to distant planets within our Solar System.
“We examined the decadal studies and noted the various mission concept analyses conducted over a decade,” Kunjur explained. “There have been around 50 studies during that time. We recognized that if NASA’s funding remains stagnant, only one or possibly two of these missions could be realized. Therefore, we resolved to tackle one of the significant challenges ahead.”
As we potentially transition into a new era marked by abundant launch opportunities, K2 appears well-positioned to address the demand for cost-effective scientific satellites that can be deployed using the growing number of available rockets—assuming all elements of their plan come to fruition.
Source
arstechnica.com