Full-Time
Principal Avionics Systems Engineer
K2 Space
201-500 employees
Provides cost-effective, high-capability satellite buses
Compensation Overview
$180k - $240k/yr
Los Angeles, CA, USA
In Person
 Aerospace Engineering (1) |
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- Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical engineering or any equivalent combination of education and experience
- 8+ years of experience in the architectural design, development, test, and integration of space-grade avionics systems
- Experience programmatically interfacing with hardware test automation and data analysis tasks
- Ability to work in a fast-paced and high velocity start-up atmosphere
- Creative problem solver that can assess risk and make collaborative design and development decisions
- Serve as Responsible Engineer for Avionics system design, performance, and hardware across the computing, power system, instrumentation, RF components, GNC sensors, and harnessing on the satellite bus
- Collaborate closely within the cross functional Engineering teams to capture requirements, lead design trades, and integrate the design into the spacecraft systems
- Create and update technical documentation including system diagrams, schematics, interface control documents, procedures, test/anomaly reports
- Execute Avionics component and system testing on flight hardware through development acceptance, qualification, and integration testing
- Support spacecraft integration testing, production issue dispositions, troubleshooting failures, and managing overall spacecraft risk
- Design, develop and build Avionics production infrastructure
- Write modular, reusable test, analysis, and automation software in Python and Rust
- Effectively manage and communicate project plan, milestones, and schedule execution
- Nice to Have: Hands-on experience with environmental testing for space electronics and harnessing such as thermal, thermal vacuum, vibration, shock, radiation, and EMI/EMC testing per SMC-S-016
- Nice to Have: Expertise with vehicle grounding architecture, spacecraft charging, EMI, and/or RF testing and compatibility
- Nice to Have: Competence with electrical test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, network analyzers, etc.)
- Nice to Have: Strong presentation experience in highly technical design forums and reviews (Preliminary Design Reviews, Critical Design Reviews, Flight Readiness Reviews, etc.)
- Nice to Have: Proficient with NX or similar CAD software including electrical harness routing
- Nice to Have: Expertise in PCB schematic capture and board layout, ideally using Altium or similar software
- Nice to Have: Experience with Linux, Bash, C++, MODBUS
- Nice to Have: Experience with vehicle level testing including writing test procedures, creating robust and efficient test sequencing, and analytical data review to evaluate hardware health
- Nice to Have: Familiarity with vehicle power analysis, flight software state machine structures, and communication systems
K2 Space designs and sells cost-effective satellite buses—the main structure and systems of a satellite, excluding the payload. The bus includes core subsystems like power, attitude control, propulsion, thermal management, and communications, allowing customers to attach their own payloads to complete missions. It differentiates itself by decoupling payload costs from the spacecraft and offering a modular, scalable platform built on team experience from SpaceX and Blue Origin. The goal is to enable ambitious space missions by making high-capability satellites affordable for commercial, scientific, and defense customers.
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
Series D
Total Funding
$943.5M
Headquarters
West Hollywood, California
Founded
2022
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- K2 secured $60M from the US Space Force for the Gravitas mission, validating defense demand and accelerating military network qualification.
- With a planned 100 satellites/year output in Torrance, K2 scales rapidly as high-power satellite demand grows across commercial and government sectors.
- The Giga Class platform supports 15-ton payloads and 115kW power, targeting future heavy-lift vehicles like Starship and New Glenn.
What critics are saying
- SpaceX Starlink and Amazon Leo expanding LEO/MEO constellations with lower-cost satellites will erode SES and Space Force demand for K2 buses.
- K2's 20kW Hall-effect thruster and solar array on Gravitas face single-point failure risk, potentially triggering contract cancellations before 2030.
- U.S. Space Force delays in Gravitas certification could force K2 to extend development to 2029 and lose $500M in near-term funding renewal.
What makes K2 Space unique
- K2 Space breaks the historical mass-cost correlation, enabling large high-capability satellites at small satellite prices.
- Their Mega Class bus delivers 20kW power and 1-ton payload, ten times more powerful than typical low-cost buses.
- The stackable design allows ten satellites per Falcon 9 launch, dramatically reducing constellation deployment costs and timelines.
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↑ 2%How K2 built a revolutionary 20-kilowatt satellite. Key takeaways. * K2 Space developed a 20-kilowatt satellite for $15 million, dramatically cheaper than conventional satellites costing $500 million to $1 billion * The company operates satellites at 150+ volts - far exceeding the standard 28-volt bus used by conventional spacecraft * Gravitas, their first satellite, launched on March 30, 2026, carrying 12 different payloads for government and commercial customers * The mission validates K2's thesis that bigger, more powerful satellites unlock scientific and operational capabilities previously considered impossible * K2 aims to lay the foundation for humanity to become a Type-2 Kardashev civilization - one capable of harnessing solar system-scale energy Why everyone thought K2 was crazy. When K2's founders looked at NASA's decadal survey of scientific priorities, they noticed a critical gap: most ambitious space missions weren't happening because no one was building the necessary infrastructure. The space industry had been moving smaller to reduce costs, but this approach had a fundamental flaw - power scales with size. The team realized that conventional large satellites were outdated, slow, and prohibitively expensive. They set out to prove that engineering innovation, not physics limitations, was the bottleneck. When K2 announced plans to build a 20-kilowatt satellite for $15 million instead of $500 million to $1 billion, half their contacts said they were crazy; the other half said it was impossible. The engineering challenges they solved. K2's satellite operates at over 150 volts, compared to the standard 28-volt bus in conventional spacecraft. This higher voltage enables greater power delivery but introduces extreme complexity - designing systems that function at those levels is difficult enough on Earth, but in space, the satellite flies through plasma, which creates severe arcing and damage risks. Solar arrays became an existential threat early in the company's development. These massive systems must provide power for all orbital operations, but designing them required rethinking conventional approaches. K2 brought solar array design in-house and spent three to four months modifying designs before achieving a flight-ready vehicle in just three years - a remarkable timeline for space hardware. From concept to launch. By the time K2 prepared for launch, the company had grown from seven people in a conference room to over 200 employees. The satellite platform - designed to deploy in any orbit with exceptional power capacity - attracted over $500 million in signed contracts from government and commercial customers. Government applications range from missile warning and tactical communications to classified missions. On the science side, K2 partnered with NASA on a telescope design. When the chief scientist initially worried the telescope might be too large for the satellite bus, he was shocked by K2's capabilities. After seeing the actual hardware, he returned with a colleague, saying, "We could fly two telescopes on the same bus" - something rarely possible with conventional platforms. The launch and beyond. On March 30, 2026, Gravitas launched aboard a Falcon 9 Transporter-16 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 4:02 AM PT. The satellite carried 12 different payloads and had to deploy autonomously - orienting itself, extending solar arrays, and establishing ground communication with zero human intervention during the critical deployment phase. The launch was only the beginning. K2's four teams of trained operators stood ready for any failures or faults, prepared to recover from imperfect information and satellite control. Space remains unforgiving; a single component failure can determine mission success. Conclusion. K2 Space's achievement with Gravitas demonstrates that humanity is vastly underestimating its capabilities in space. By thinking bigger instead of smaller, and by solving engineering challenges others deemed impossible, K2 is laying the foundation for a future where space infrastructure scales to support ambitious scientific missions and deep-space exploration. The satellite's successful deployment marks the first major step in expanding what's possible beyond Earth orbit.
SES has announced plans to deploy meoSphere, a next-generation medium Earth orbit satellite network targeting operation by 2030. The company will initially deploy 28 high-power satellite platforms developed by K2 Space, paired with SES's own software-defined payloads manufactured in Luxembourg. The network will orbit at approximately 8,000 kilometres above Earth and aims to significantly boost global broadband capacity whilst reducing terminal sizes and costs. meoSphere is designed to serve government, mobility and telecommunications markets, with compatibility for Europe's IRIS programme. Over the next three years, SES plans to launch pathfinder missions with K2 Space to test components before full-scale deployment. Each K2 satellite will deliver 20 kilowatts of power and feature optical intersatellite links supporting up to 100 gigabits per second data relay. The initiative aligns with SES's previously announced capital expenditure guidance.
SES partners with K2 Space to build cheaper satellite network. Luxembourg-based space company teams up with Los Angeles startup for its new network of around 100 satellites in medium-Earth orbit. News agency 24/03/2026 One of Europe's leading satellite operators, SES, is betting on US company K2 Space to build a cheaper and faster network for internet connectivity amid increased competition from newer rivals like SpaceX and Blue Origin. Luxembourg-based SES said it will buy 28 satellite buses, the main platform of the spacecraft, from Los Angeles startup K2 Space for its new network of around 100 satellites in medium-Earth orbit (MEO), about 8,000 kilometers above the planet. SES currently operates roughly 120 satellites that beam down connectivity for governments and businesses, including airlines and cruise ships. The company plans for its new meoSphere network to be fully operational in 2030. Founded by a former SpaceX engineer and his brother in 2022, K2 Space aims to create large and powerful spacecraft for a fraction of the price of current models. Each K2 Space satellite bus costs just $15 million (€12.93 million), a price that is "double digits percent" less than a customised spacecraft from the company's historical contractors, according to SES Chief Executive Officer Adel Al-Saleh. With legacy manufacturers, which include Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumann Corp., "when you define the architecture, that goes into production between five and seven years later," he said in an interview. "You've got to be doing it in a one-year cycle. It's exactly what we're going to be changing." K2 Space in December raised $250 million (€215.55 million) with a $3 billion (€2.59 billion) valuation in a funding round led by Redpoint and including Lightspeed Venture Partners and other investors. The startup is now preparing for the launch of its first satellite by the end of March. Building the first satellite helped the startup confirm the cost structure and "that we can sell it at scale at that price point," K2 Space CEO Karan Kunjur said. The SES-K2 announcement builds on a partnership the two companies announced in September 2025, when they said that they had started development of a new MEO network. The new project demonstrates SES's commitment to MEO even as competitors like SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon Leo operate closer to the planet in low-Earth orbit (LEO), which can enable faster data speeds but require more spacecraft for global coverage. In January, Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin announced a new satellite network called TeraWave, which is geared toward providing high-speed data to government, businesses and data centers from both LEO and MEO. "When competition comes and presses us, we'll innovate and we'll go faster," Al-Saleh said. "The good thing about us is that we have a head start." SES's new network can also be used for other applications, including missile warning and tracking, navigation and in-orbit computing, according to the company. (C) 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
K2, a US-based company, has secured funding from the US Space Force to support its experimental Gravitas mission, aimed at developing large-scale satellites with advanced operational capabilities. The company has signed contracts worth approximately $500 million with commercial and governmental entities within the United States. The funding reflects growing interest in developing giant satellites with enhanced operational capabilities. The investment strengthens K2's position in the advanced space systems market as it pursues its ambitious satellite development programme.
K2 Space raises $250 million to scale high-power satellite line. ORLANDO, Fla. - K2 Space said Dec. 11 it raised $250 million in new funding that values the satellite manufacturing startup at $3 billion. The Series C round was led by Redpoint, with additional backing from accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Hedosophia, Altimeter, Lightspeed and Alpine Space Ventures. Torrance, California-based K2 was founded in 2022 to build large satellites with more onboard power and volume than typical platforms in low, medium or geostationary orbit. The company aims to offer a single bus that can operate across all three regimes, a break from the orbit-specific designs common in today's market. K2 in October outlined plans for a demonstration mission to validate its "multi-orbit" platform. The company says it has developed key subsystems in-house, including a high-power Hall-effect thruster, large solar arrays, radiation-tolerant avionics, large reaction wheels and high-voltage power systems. "What stands out about K2 is how much core hardware they've built themselves," said Elliot Geidt, partner at Redpoint. He said the sector is "attracting investment because the underlying demand is real and accelerating." T. Rowe Price investment analyst Jason Leblang said K2 is "tackling one of the biggest limitations in the space economy: meaningful increases in power and scale." K2 plans to launch "Gravitas," the first unit of its "Mega Class" line, in March 2026. The mission would mark the company's first flight of a fully integrated platform and attempt several industry firsts, including in-space firing of a 20-kilowatt Hall-effect thruster and deployment of twin 10-kilowatt solar arrays. It will also test a high-voltage power system paired with radiation-tolerant avionics, a combination companies typically qualify over multiple missions. Higher onboard power, the company said, is sought for payloads such as high-capacity communications, remote sensing with large apertures and hosted defense missions. Hall-effect thrusters in the 20-kilowatt class, if proven reliable, could shorten orbit-raising timelines for heavy satellites or support more agile maneuvering in LEO and MEO. K2 said it will scale manufacturing at its Torrance factory after Mega's launch. The site is sized for output of about 100 high-power satellites a year. The company said it has booked contracts with commercial operators including SES and has U.S. government work underway. The next platform on K2's roadmap is "Giga," a larger bus sized for massive rockets like SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn. The company is targeting roughly 100 kilowatts of power per satellite, a level aligned with emerging heavy-lift launch capacity and with Pentagon demand for more capable proliferated constellations.