K2 Space wins $22.9 million Space Force laser comms contract
K2 Space
The Space Force awarded K2 Space $22.9 million to build and test laser communications terminals on two satellites by 2028.
what happened
The Space Force awarded K2 Space $22.9 million to develop and demonstrate laser communications terminals in orbit under the Enterprise Space Terminal program, a roughly $100 million effort to evaluate optical communications hardware from multiple vendors, per SpaceNews. K2 will procure, integrate, launch and operate two Enterprise Space Terminals on separate satellites to test direct laser data transmission between spacecraft, with the demonstration scheduled to complete by 2028; other Enterprise Space Terminal vendors include CACI International, General Atomics and Viasat.
why it matters
Optical crosslinks are the connective tissue the Space Force wants for moving sensor data between satellites in different orbits fast enough to cue missile-defense interceptors, and the award gives K2 a role in that architecture alongside its other Space Force work, adding government validation days after the company closed a $500 million Series D. For laser-comms suppliers and satellite bus makers, it is another data point on how many vendors the Pentagon is funding in parallel before consolidating around a standard.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- K2 Space
- Category
- contract
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 3 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-08-01
- Published
- 2026-08-02 05:33 UTC