- Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ led the round, joined by CapitalG, Lightspeed, ARK Invest and others
- The Space Force awarded K2 a $22.9 million contract for two Enterprise Space Terminals
- CEO Karan Kunjur said the raise positions K2 to build up to 100 large satellites a year
Satellite manufacturer K2 Space closed a $500 million Series D round at a $6.8 billion valuation. The company said Thursday Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ led the financing, joined by CapitalG, Lightspeed, Altimeter, Spark Capital, Sands Capital, ARK Invest and T. Rowe Price Associates.
A day later, the Department of War announced that the U.S. Space Force awarded the Torrance, California, company a $22.9 million contract for Enterprise Space Terminals. K2 said its cumulative fundraising now exceeds $1 billion, matching what it has signed in commercial and government contracts.
What Does the Enterprise Space Terminals Contract Cover?
K2 will procure, integrate, launch and operate two terminals flying as hosted payloads on separate company buses. Work will be performed at Torrance through November 2028.
The Space Based Sensing and Targeting Directorate at Space Systems Command awarded the firm-fixed-price contract through the FreeSol broad agency announcement. The full $22.9 million was obligated at the time of the award from fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds.
Which Programs Is K2 Building Satellites For?
Three efforts anchor the backlog. K2 will supply an initial 30 satellites for meoSphere, a network planned by commercial operator SES. It will also build satellites for Anduril‘s work on the Golden Dome for America space-based interceptor program.
The third is Protected Tactical Satcom-Global, where K2 serves as the bus provider. The company called that its first selection for a Pentagon program of record.
What Comes Next for K2 Space?
Neel Kunjur, co-founder and chief technology officer, said a 100-kilowatt satellite called Giga will arrive in the second half of 2028 and will carry substantial computing capacity in orbit. Before that, a mission named Trinity will put multiple satellites up in the second quarter of 2027.
K2 launched its first satellite, Gravitas, in March. Co-founder and CEO Karan Kunjur said the latest funding round positions the company to reach an annual output of up to 100 large satellites.
“Our supply chain is 85 percent vertically integrated, which allows us to build our large satellites quickly and at low cost,” he added. “We also continue to attract the most brilliant engineers and technicians who want to come work on the hardest challenges in space.”
K2 opened an engineering office in the Seattle area in July. The company said the facility will support the satellite manufacturing efforts at its Torrance factory.
