K2 Space Ships GRAVITAS to Launch Pad — 20kW Mega Class Satellite Manifested on SpaceX Transporter
87 FOMOK2 Space CEO Karan Kunjur announced on March 19-20, 2026 that the GRAVITAS satellite (2 metric tons, 40m solar wingspan, 20kW generation) had been shipped to the SpaceX launch facility ahead of its Transporter rideshare launch. The satellite carries 12 payloads including DoD customers, under a $60M Space Force STRATFI contract. GRAVITAS features the most powerful Hall-effect thruster ever flown (20kW, krypton-fed) — roughly 4× more powerful than anything previously flown in space. Mission tiers: (1) deploy solar arrays and establish comms; (2) operate customer payloads; (3) orbit-raise LEO→MEO using electric propulsion, the first such raise ever attempted. K2 raised $250M Series C at $3B valuation in December 2025, and $450M total funding.
Why it matters
GRAVITAS is the moment when the "build bigger" thesis meets orbit. Either the 20kW Hall thruster performs LEO→MEO as designed (unlocking a completely new satellite deployment paradigm that lets one launch vehicle deploy MEO constellations 4× more efficiently), or it doesn't and K2 has a hard lesson to learn on orbit. No middle ground. The orbital data center narrative also hinges on this: K2's Giga class (Starship-optimized, 100kW+) is only credible if GRAVITAS succeeds.
Details
Mission
- Vehicle
- Falcon 9 (SpaceX Transporter rideshare)
- Payload
- 12 DoD and commercial payload modules
- Orbit
- LEO → MEO (electric propulsion orbit raise)
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida
Coverage
-
techcrunch.com ·
K2 to launch its first high-powered satellite for space computeTechCrunch profile of GRAVITAS ahead of launch. K2 building 85% of components in-house because "the supply chain to build such a satellite doesn't exist." CEO Kunjur: "The future is higher power." $15M price point vs. equivalently capable traditional satellites. 20kW matches ViaSat-3's output — on a Falcon 9 rideshare payload. 12 customer payloads including DoD. Three success tiers: power on, fly payloads, orbit-raise to MEO. K2 already has 100kW Starship-class "Giga" design taped out on factory floor.
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Veenie.Space Telemetry
K2 Space CEO Karan Kunjur announced on March 19-20, 2026 that the GRAVITAS satellite (2 metric tons,