Engineering Mass Abundance, with Neel Kunjur (CTO of K2 Space)

Smallsats have defined the last decade of space, but their limitations are clear: low power, limited throughput, and fragile unit economics. K2 Space is betting on the opposite. The company is building mega class and giga class satellites, platforms measured in tons rather than kilograms, that deliver unprecedented power, capacity, and resilience. By vertically integrating 80 percent of their systems in house, K2 is cutting costs by an order of magnitude and making industrial scale spacecraft a reality.On this episode of Valley of Depth, we’re joined by Neel Kunjur, cofounder and CTO of K2 Space. Neel traces the journey from early Slack messages about the promise of MEO to a 160 person team building the largest commercial satellites ever attempted. He shares how K2 has reimagined subsystems like reaction wheels, high voltage power, and 20 kW propulsion to unlock entirely new mission architectures in MEO, GEO, and beyond. We also discuss:Why MEO is such an underexplored orbital regimeThe engineering breakthroughs behind large reaction wheels and high voltage power systemsHow stackable satellites change constellation designThe long term vision for space infrastructure, from in space compute to energy harvesting…and more.  • Chapters •00:00 – Intro00:56 – What's happened in the past two years since K2 has been on the pod02:13 – The thesis behind K203:51 – What does Neel mean by aperture?04:40 – Why do satellites need to grow in size and power?06:59 – The rise in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) chatter08:49 – Why did Neel leave SpaceX and start K2 with his brother?12:04 – Building K2 for a post Starship world14:10 – Current and future K2 offerings15:32 – 20 Kilowatts vs a small LEO satellite17:10 – Giga-scale satellite18:40 – How K2 is able to deliver $15m satellite21:13 – K2's innovations so far23:01 – Engineering problems that larger satellite builders have to worry about25:08 – K2's propulsion solution to get MEO28:11 – Engineering for Starship's current MEO blindspot29:18 – Neel's prediction on Starship's refueling rollout30:14 – Innovation through simplicity33:24 – How is K2 hiring the talent for their niche challenges35:52 – How big is K2's team today36:43 – Key takeaways from K2's first mission38:22 – Mission Gravitas39:59 – Orbit race40:39 – Mission Gravitas: Commercial or DoD?41:33 – K2's scaling plans43:03 – Customized vs standardized45:17 – Overspec'd by design45:40 – Will K2's success spur more competition?47:23 – Will satellites become robust, industrial hardware?48:48 – What's enabled by these large platforms?51:01 – The paradigm shift happening in engineering for space52:42 – Will SpaceX own LEO?55:05 – The name and branding behind K2 • Show notes •K2’s website — http://www.k2space.com/K2’s socials — https://x.com/K2SpaceCoMo's socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislamPayload’s socials — https://twitter.com/payloadspace / https://www.linkedin.com/company/payloadspaceIgnition’s socials — https://twitter.com/ignitionnuclear /  https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignition-nuclear/Tectonic’s socials  — https://twitter.com/tectonicdefense / https://www.linkedin.com/company/tectonicdefense/Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/ • About us •Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies that matter — and the people building them. Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload (space), Ignition (nuclear energy), and Tectonic (defense tech), this show goes beyond headlines and hype. We talk to founders, investors, government officials, and military leaders shaping the future of national security and deep tech. From breakthrough science to strategic policy, we dive into the high-stakes decisions behind the world’s hardest technologies.Payload: www.payloadspace.comIgnition: www.ignition-news.comTectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com