The U.S. Space Force awarded K2 Space a $22.9 million contract on July 31 to develop and test laser communications terminals that will transmit data directly between satellites in orbit. The demonstration is slated for completion by 2028.

K2 Space, based in Torrance, California, will procure, integrate, launch and operate two Enterprise Space Terminals, each as a hosted payload on a separate K2 satellite. A hosted payload relies on its host spacecraft for power, thermal control, pointing and communications support. The contract does not specify which companies will supply the two terminals.

The Space Force selected CACI International, General Atomics and Viasat as Phase 3 suppliers under the Enterprise Space Terminal program, a roughly $100 million effort launched in 2024 to evaluate optical communications hardware from multiple vendors. Optical communications use focused laser beams to move data between satellites, requiring precise pointing and tracking when the spacecraft are separated by thousands of miles and moving relative to one another. The experiment is funded by the Space-Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio, which oversees programs such as the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator and the Space Data Network, a planned optically connected architecture for military information transport.

K2 was chosen through the FreeSol Broad Agency Announcement, a Space Force contracting vehicle for commercial technology and research‑and‑development proposals. The award follows K2’s selection as a vendor under the Pentagon’s Overhead Persistent Infrared Space Modernization Initiative, a research program supporting space‑based missile warning technologies. The demonstration aims to enable rapid sharing of missile‑warning, tracking and targeting data among distributed satellites, ground systems and military users.