K2 launches the first high-power space computing satellite

An ambitious satellite builder will launch one of the most powerful spacecraft ever built in the coming weeks to demonstrate the technology required to build data centers in orbit.

K2 spaceSpaceX, founded by brothers and former SpaceX engineers Karan and Neil Kungur in 2022, has packed its Gravitas satellite into a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket expected to launch at the end of this month. Gravitas has a mass of two metric tons, and a wingspan of 40 meters when its solar panels are unfolded.

The goal of a big satellite is big power: Gravitas is capable of producing 20 kilowatts of electricity for use in payloads such as powerful sensors, transceivers and computers. By comparison, the larger and more expensive ViaSat-3 spacecraft can generate more than 25 kilowatts of power, while Elon Musk’s He said The Starlink V3 satellites will generate 20 kilowatts. But most spacecraft generate only a few kilowatts.

“The future is a higher power,” explains CEO Karan Kunjur. K2 has raised $450 million to make this vision a reality, and was valued at $3 billion by its investors in December 2025. This launch will be the company’s first step into true space operations — and what Congor calls “the beginning of our iterative journey.”

The Gravitas mission will transport 12 unannounced payload modules from several customers, including the Department of Defense, as well as a 20-kilowatt electric motor that the company expects to be the most powerful ever launched into space.

Congor said the demonstration will be evaluated across several levels of success — first, can K2 deploy the spacecraft and generate power? Second, can it start running its payloads and test its powerful engine? If all goes well, could the thruster be used to lift the spacecraft thousands of kilometers into a higher orbit?

Conjur realizes that launching a new spacecraft is no easy feat: 85% of its components were designed and built in-house, and that markets are quick to judge anomalies. What’s most important, he says, is maximizing data collection to feed into the next satellite design. K2 plans to launch 11 satellites in the next two years in a mix of experimental and commercial missions. By 2028, Congor expects the company to be producing satellites for customers to build commercial networks of high-powered spacecraft.

As satellites continue to play a larger role in the economy, energy is helping close new business cases. Congor expects that the first impact will be on communications networks, as more power means greater throughput and a signal that is less susceptible to interference. As data processing in orbit becomes more important, high-powered satellites will be needed to power advanced processors.

However, the big challenge facing data centers – and large satellites of all kinds – is the cost of launching them into space. K2’s founding goal was to harness the power of Starship, the massive rocket currently being developed by SpaceX that may be able to achieve significant reductions in the cost of reaching orbit. However, it is not yet clear when the vehicle will be operational, or start offering a low-cost service.

But the growing demand for more energy in orbit gives K2 a different framework for its unique spacecraft. Massive communications networks like Starlink and Amazon LEO, hyperscalers pondering the potential of orbital computing, and the Pentagon’s plans for a $185 billion missile defense system with thousands of new satellites all point to satellites with greater electrical leverage.

K2 argues that its spacecraft still makes sense in a world where it might cost roughly $7.2 million to launch (at Falcon 9 customer prices) rather than $600,000 (a world where Starship cuts launch costs for outside customers). Congor says Gravitas’s $15 million price tag still makes it cheaper than high-powered satellites built by traditional contractors, while being more powerful than smaller, similarly priced spacecraft.

Once the largest rockets start flying regularly, Kungur says his team will be ready with greater options.

“The idea is to build all the components that we will need to be the first mover when Starship and New Glenn are available to everyone,” he told TechCrunch. K2 has ready-made designs for a 100-kilowatt satellite, all taped to the factory floor, spanning the entire building.

This story has been updated with a newer measure of Starlink satellite power generation.