K2 Space Corporation

A lot of people associate space with their childhood - at K2 Space Corporation we hope to help make those childhood dreams a reality. We're excited to introduce the next member of our team, Amir Bigdeli, our Senior Electrical Engineer, who comes to us from Tesla and Amazon Project Kuiper. Tell us about yourself Amir I was born in Iran and moved to the U.S for school in my teens. I grew up in Fairfax, Virginia, before moving to the west coast. I began my engineering studies at a community college before transferring to Virginia Tech, where I earned a bachelor’s in electronics and a master’s in power electronics. I landed internships at VPT Power, GE Aviation and SpaceX, which allowed me to live in new parts of the U.S., which was both eye-opening and refreshing. After graduating, I worked on Cybertruck electronics at Tesla and later focused on phased array antennas and high-speed RF designs at Amazon Kuiper. What was your first memory of space? I visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in DC when I first moved to Virginia - it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Walking through centuries of technological progress and the history of human spaceflight was unmatched. On top of that, I took an astronomy class in college that really opened my eyes to the vastness of the universe and how much exploration lies ahead of us. What space application are you most excited for moving forward? I’m fascinated by the possibility of shifting satellites between orbits with ease. I believe unlocking this capability will open so many doors for future exploration!

Our Head of Software, Michael S., had the chance to share the K2 mission with those at RustConf in Montreal last week. Our software team loved spending the week meeting so many fellow Rustaceans! The software team at K2 is building our stack primarily in Rust due to its reliability and ecosystem of passionate users that continue to make the language better. We see Rust as a key enabling technology that allows our team to be more effective across the entire software stack - from embedded software on microcontrollers to GNC algorithms. If you're a Rust developer (or C++ developer willing to learn Rust) who wants to take Rust to new heights, we are hiring! Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gM8n-Jqy

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting a tour of our HQ as part of the Brooke Owens Fellowship Alumni Summit. Along with the tour, the Brookies engaged in a thoughtful Q&A with Neel Kunjur – our co-founder and CTO. We’re excited to continue supporting Brookies, and to see how this impressive group contributes to our industry through their thriving careers.

A lot of people associate space with their childhood - at K2 Space Corporation we hope to help make those childhood dreams a reality. We're excited to introduce the next member of our team, Jesse Klekamp, our Head of Talent, who comes to us from SpaceX. Tell us about yourself Jesse I grew up in Colorado but have called Southern California home since attending Scripps College. I studied International Relations, specifically African Politics, but made the transition into the space industry when I joined SpaceX in 2014. I love gardening, checking out new trails with my dog, hosting dinner parties, and chipping away at one of my bucket list goals of publishing a cookbook. What was your first memory of space? The only piece of jewelry my dad ever wore was a navy watch with a pearlescent face that showed the moon phases. I loved looking at it and matching it to the moon outside, always amazed that something so vast and seemingly magic could be so well understood to be reflected by a watch.  What space application are you most excited for moving forward? I joined SpaceX when rocket reusability was still an outlandish idea rather than a regular occurrence. I’m most excited to see other seemingly impossible moonshots - both literal and figurative - that we haven’t dreamed up yet.

A lot of people associate space with their childhood - at K2 Space Corporation we hope to help make those childhood dreams a reality. We're excited to introduce the next member of our team, Paul DeTrempe, our Senior GNC Engineer, who comes to us from Draper and The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Tell us about yourself Paul I grew up in the Bay Area and moved to LA after grad school. I’ve lived in the LA area for the past 4 years and enjoy taking advantage of all of the outdoor activities SoCal has to offer. Outside of work you can find me rock climbing, running, hiking, and surfing! What was your first memory of space? One of my first memories of space was staying up late in high school to watch the Mars Curiosity rover landing. I loved the excitement of the “Seven Minutes of Terror” while the NASA live stream showed people in mission control waiting with bated breath to see whether or not their years of effort would pay off. I started playing Kerbal Space Program that week and decided I wanted to work on spacecraft pretty soon after that. What space application are you most excited for moving forward? I’m excited for lower launch and satellite costs to enable more scientific missions to the outer solar system. The moons of the gas giants are incredibly geologically interesting. I’m excited for missions to Jupiter and Saturn to reveal more about the origins of the solar system and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

A lot of people associate space with their childhood - at K2 Space Corporation we hope to help make those childhood dreams a reality. We're excited to introduce the next member of our team, Michael Chavez, our Electrical Engineering Technician, who comes to us from SpaceX. Tell us about yourself Mike I was born and raised in the South Bay and spend most of my free time with my family and girlfriend. When I'm not working or spending time with my family, you can find me playing video games or enjoying all things Marvel. I began my aerospace career working in the kitchen at SpaceX, where I was later given the opportunity to pursue a role in avionics harnessing. From there I was able to branch out and work on laser mechanisms, parachute qualification testing, satellite integration/testing, PCBA rework and test rack builds. What was your first memory of space? My first memory of space is from watching Star Wars as a child. I was fascinated by the idea of humans and aliens mastering space travel. As I grew older and realized it was just a fantasy, I thought the next best thing I could do was work in the space industry. While space battles and hyperspace jumps remain fiction, my time at SpaceX made me realize that Elon’s goal of making humanity multi-planetary is achievable—even if it’s going to take a long time. What space application are you most excited for moving forward? I am passionate about K2's mission to maximize power while reducing the cost of transport, and I hope our work causes a ripple effect that drives innovation throughout the industry.

A lot of people associate space with their childhood - at K2 Space Corporation we hope to help make those childhood dreams a reality. We're excited to introduce the next member of our team, Sarvesh Fotedar, our Satellite Mechanical Engineer, who comes to us from Intuitive Machines. Tell us about yourself Sarvesh I was born and raised in Texas, and recently moved to California to pursue my dream of working in the space industry. I obtained my bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas and recently graduated from Rice University with my master's degree. My latest internship was at Intuitive Machines where I had my first exposure to how the new space industry operates, and got a front-row seat to see the first American spacecraft to land on the moon in more than 50 years. What was your first memory of space? My first memory of space is from when my dad, who was working at Johnson Space Center, showed me a video of the last space shuttle launch before its retirement. I felt a mix of sadness that the shuttle would no longer be flying, but also hope for the future of spaceflight, especially with the upcoming Constellation program. What space application are you most excited for moving forward? After the difficulties communicating with a commercial spacecraft on the Moon during the IM-1 mission, I would love to see a constellation of satellites designed to enhance communication with spacecraft far beyond low Earth orbit. The amount of scientific information out there is massive, and new infrastructure will be needed to send it back to Earth.

Our CEO and co-founder Karan Kunjur recently attended the Brooke Owens Fellowship summit to celebrate our first Brookie, Davina Russell, and the other impressive Fellows selected for this year. It was inspiring to see the next generation of leaders in space come together, there is so much hope for our future space endeavors. We're thrilled K2 Space was selected to host a Brookie this year, and are committed to championing the success of the next generation of exceptional women and gender minorities in the aerospace industry.

Up next in our Summer 2024 Internship spotlight is Ian McKernan, our Electrical Engineering Intern! One month into his internship, Ian is already having a positive impact on our Avionics team at K2 Space! During his internship, Ian will be designing the PCBA that will distribute low voltage power and communications throughout our spacecraft. This is a critical functionality for the Mega bus, providing the backbone of the power and network architecture. Ian is a junior at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering.

In honor of National Intern Day, please join us in celebrating the first of our Summer 2024 Interns, Davina Russell! Davina is joining us through the Brooke Owens Fellowship. We’re excited to spotlight the amazing contributions she has already made as part of our Structures and Mechanisms team! Davina is responsible for developing a prototype for the solar array off-loader ground support structure. She successfully led a Design Criteria Review earlier this summer, and is on track to complete the prototype testing before her internship is completed. Davina is a senior at the University of Notre Dame pursuing a bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering and Industrial Design. The below photo shows Davina standing next to the K2 Space Bridgeport Vertical Mill in our Torrance HQ.