The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded Forterra and Oshkosh Defense the ROGUE-Fires Block 2 contract, the military’s first large-scale production award for ground vehicle autonomy.
Autonomous systems are creating the ability to extend operational reach, enable distributed operations in contested environments, strengthen deterrence, and reduce risk to the Marines executing the mission.
Extending reach without extending risk.
https://t.co/K6lkKFwWJ2
K2 Space celebrates its fourth birthday today, June 1. When our co-founders @KaranKunjur and @neelkunjur started this company, they had big dreams to build big satellites – and now K2 is changing what’s possible in space with high power, high payload mass satellites to support all kinds of complex missions.
Over the last four years, we went:
--From a WeWork to a 180,000 sq. ft. factory in Torrance, CA
--From 2 founders to a team of 275 people who are the best at what they do
--From a new bank account to $450M in capital raised and $1B in contracts won
--From a render to one of the largest satellites ever operating on orbit
As we celebrate this milestone, we’re actively building and scaling to support extensive growth and other planned missions over the next year. Our Trinity mission will launch several satellites in early 2027, and we’ll be producing at least three dozen satellites a year in 2028.
All of this is possible thanks to the support of our investors, customers, and employees, who share our vision of a bigger, more powerful future in space.
(From then to now, below -- our original facility, on the left, and our current 180k sq. ft. factory and growing team, on the right.)
I'm excited to announce we have achieved our Tier 1 mission success criteria and have begun gathering a tremendous amount of data on how this brand new spacecraft performs.
On March 30th, 13:17:08Z, the Gravitas spacecraft separated from the SpaceX Transporter-16 stack to begin its mission as one of the highest power free-flying satellites ever launched.
Immediately after separation, the spacecraft autonomously:
- Executed detumbling maneuvers
- Established two-way communications with the ground (on our very first ground station pass)
- Deployed its 20kW solar arrays
- Slewed to a safe and stable attitude to await further ground commands
These actions alone are a testament to the incredible work of our in-house engineering, software, and GNC teams to build a robust spacecraft.
Since then, our operations team completed all initial system activations and checkouts, confirming the vehicle is in a power positive and thermally stable state with no major anomalies observed at this time.
We completed this phase of the mission ahead of schedule. Next up we will be powering up and downlinking data for all payloads aboard the Gravitas spacecraft in support of our customers and partners while continuing to put the spacecraft through its paces.
As we noted ahead of launch: The goal of this mission is to experiment and push our systems to the limit to inform future missions. I look forward to sharing more on our successes and challenges as the mission proceeds.
Video of our satellite below; link to full T-16 webcast: https://t.co/cq1sTsnAJx
We’re proud to announce that K2 Space has been selected by @SES_Satellites to manufacture 28 K2 satellites for meoSphere, SES’s next-generation MEO network.
The program marks a step-change in how MEO systems are built and operated, combining higher power, greater flexibility, and a more scalable approach to production. As SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh told Bloomberg, "You've got to be doing it in a one-year cycle. It's exactly what we're going to be changing."
The initial batch of 28 high-power satellites will significantly boost SES's MEO network capacity, and operate as the foundation for its new network of ~100 satellites in MEO.
Read more via Bloomberg ⬇️
$238M Series C— Accelerating the future of defense.
From autonomy and edge compute to resilient communications, our platforms are redefining how modern operations connect and coordinate. This funding accelerates our work to deliver interoperable autonomy at scale with proven, fielded, technology that is already reshaping how missions get done.
The round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures, joined by new investors including Salesforce Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Balyasny Asset Management L.P., 645 Ventures, Hanwha Asset Management, 9Yards Capital and NightDragon, alongside participation from existing investors XYZ Venture Capital, Hedosophia, and Enlightenment Capital. Doubling down on their investment into Forterra, Crescent Cove Advisors LP provided both equity and debt, showing continued support since Forterra’s Series A in 2021.
Autonomy isn’t the future. It’s the new baseline.
When you go to a new barber they love to trash your previous haircut. It’s like the rental car walk through to make sure they aren’t liable for what’s already damaged