Is bigger better? Why these brothers are trying to build satellites at scale

Every time you navigate using GPS, check the weather on your phone, or watch a live TV broadcast, you are using satellites.

In general, satellite manufacturers have tried to make their hardware as light as possible, given that sending heavier objects into space costs more.

But as the private space industry has decreased the cost of launch, one Southern California-based startup called K2 Space Corporation is taking the opposite approach.

“The weird, counterintuitive thing we discovered is that actually, if you allow the satellites to get a bit bigger, you can use simpler, cheaper materials,” said Neel Kunjur, co-founder and chief technology officer. “We just needed to reevaluate how a satellite should be designed from the ground up.”

Neel Kunjur and his brother, Kuran Kunjur, founded K2 four years ago on the premise that bigger, more powerful satellites could take advantage of economies of scale. They launched their first satellite on a SpaceX rideshare mission earlier this year and secured a $6.8 billion valuation in a recent fundraise.

That’s, in part, because of the potential investors see for AI data centers in space.

As K2 works to scale production and build even bigger satellites, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal toured their factory in Torrance, California.

Click the audio player above to hear the conversation.