Andrew Parlock envisions a corner of a former embroidery factory in Hollins Market coming to life with engineers, spacecraft parts and technology. It’s part of a larger vision for his small startup to begin shipping cargo to space in a matter of years.

Parlock, a self-described space nerd and former Northrop Grumman Space Systems manager, has settled on a now vacant suite of offices in the historic Lion Brothers Building in West Baltimore as the perfect setup for Space Phoenix, founded in May.

That’s where the firm plans to design, assemble and show off “Phoenix Hermes Alpha,” a prototype of a reusable spacecraft the size of a dishwasher that can be packed with commercial supplies and launched into low Earth orbit, where most satellites travel.

Longer term, the company sees itself filling a gap as an efficient and relatively affordable cog in the logistics of a budding space commercialization market. It’s an area known both for boundless potential and staggering upfront costs.

The Baltimore resident has made barely a dent in his initial goal to raise up to about $10 million in two years to build, modify and launch several prototypes and a production-ready spacecraft. He spends most of his time pitching ideas to investors and “bringing them along.” But he chooses to look at the upside.

Space-Phoenix intends to become a third-party logistics provider to an emerging sector of in-space assembly and manufacturing. Parlock is confident that a mix of proven technology, expertise and market demand will fuel the right business plan.

“We’re the U.S. Postal Service box van of spacecraft,” said Parlock, as he walked through the headquarters he hopes to open by February in a building that began as a livery stable in 1886 and was redeveloped by Cross Street Partners in 2017. “We’re trying to make space business like normal business. In normal commerce, most companies don’t own the shipping.”

Space is a new business frontier

The global space economy is ripe for new entrants with big, new ideas, said Kelli Kedis Ogborn, vice president of space commerce and entrepreneurship for the Space Foundation, a Colorado Springs-based nonprofit.

“Space has always been characterized by the entrepreneurial innovative spirit,” Kedis Ogborn said. “People are realizing that the barriers are coming down day by day to allow them to engage and access space.

“We are starting to see more players flood the market because …the opportunities just continue to pick up,” she said.

Parlock worked in business development for Northrop Grumman Space Systems before deciding to venture out on his own. He managed business development for a small earth observation company. Then he took on operations for an in-space manufacturer.

That got him thinking about what it would take to commercialize the next generation of space technology.

“This is really the leading edge of technology, manufacturing products in space to the benefit of industry and humanity,” he said. “There’s things that we can do in space that you could never do terrestrially because of the environment and conditions of space,” because of conditions such as microgravity and lack of contaminants.

In-space experiments have been done for decades by the U.S. and other governments, for instance on the International Space Station. By 1989, the U.S.-licensed commercial space industry made its first launch when Space Service Inc. sent a scientific payload on a suborbital trip aboard a Starfire rocket, according to a Federal Aviation Commission timeline. McDonnell Douglas followed later that year with a commercial orbital launch.

Government agencies soon will look to the commercial sector to take over and shift from experimental to production phase, both with manned and robotic missions.

“Doing business in space has become one of the fastest-growing businesses on Earth,” NASA said in a June 2022 website post, noting that public-private partnerships have opened space to more science, people and opportunities.

A $400 billion industry awaits

NASA is working toward enabling commercial industry to build, own and operate space systems for commercial activities. NASA would eventually become a tenant and continue its research while focusing other resources on deep space exploration.

The agency says the space economy has grown by more than 60% in the last decade and is valued at roughly $400 billion. Morgan Stanley, in its most recent research on the global space industry, estimated growth to $1.1 trillion by 2040, noting that the use of reusable rockets by SpaceX was a breakthrough that brought down the cost of launching satellites.

But it’s a risky industry, the researchers warned, because of uncertainties regarding funding, regulations, operations and cybersecurity. Missions can be tripped up by delays, launch failures and space debris.

“Creating a robust [low Earth orbit] economy will be dependent on bringing many new businesses and people into space,” NASA says on its website. “It will require the development of not only the supply of services but also the demand for those capabilities.”

Space economy is nearly as vast as space itself, Space Foundation officials say, encompassing everything that goes into space as well as everything that space enables on earth.

Most industries, among them agriculture, health care, finance and transportation, are touched by space-enabled technologies and commercial activities, said Rich Cooper, the organization’s vice president for strategic communications and space awareness.

The foundation’s statistics show the global space economy valued at higher than other estimates, totaling $570 billion last year. Nearly 80% came from commercial revenue and the rest from global government spending.

Investor interest in the space economy has ebbed and flowed, Kedis Ogborn said, but confidence has rebounded more recently. She said $12.5 billion worth of private capital was invested in the market last year.

“It’s not going to be one company or one country that is controlling and maintaining all of it,” she said. “The market is still very collaborative and competitive, because technologies and innovations are still being developed, and there’s new players every day that want to figure out if they can integrate into it.”

Most companies use some kind of space tech

Opportunities are expected to grow, as NASA-commissioned commercial space stations are established and begin offering services to private companies, probably in the next decade, Kedis Ogborn said.

“NASA will continue to do research and development, but it’s also going to enable access for everyday companies to do research as well,” in pharmaceuticals, precision manufacturing and the biomedical sector, she said. “It’s going to allow people who never thought that they had access to space to utilize it to benefit their companies, experiments or research.”

Houston-based Axiom Space is building what it calls the world’s first commercial space station, designed in collaboration with NASA as it prepares to launch its first section to low-Earth orbit by 2026. The module will connect to the International Space Station and host people, research and manufacturing.

Cooper adds that “there is no one-size-fits-all to any of this, from launch vehicles to satellites to power generation to terminals on the ground. We’re seeing so many different evolutions happening.”

Parlock wants to position Space Phoenix to be part of the infrastructure.

With eight employees and a former NASA chief engineer as advisor, the company is designing its self-contained spacecraft to carry payloads into space and stay in orbit for anywhere from a week to three months before returning to earth.

It expects to achieve design efficiencies with proven technology and off-the-shelf components. The earliest Phoenix Hermes Alpha model will have capacity for 10 to 20 kilograms of cargo and undergo the first of a series of test launches by the end of 2026, Parlock said.

The company has letters of intent from eight clients, including two that have paid to reserve rides. Costs are estimated at $150,000 per kilo, based on size, weight and power, but those fees are expected to decrease as spacecraft size and cargo capacity increases.

The first payloads will likely allow for manufacturing of semiconductor material and biopharma products. The company plans to assemble the satellite and integrate the payload. A launch company will send the satellite into space.

Those offering such services, besides SpaceX, include Blue Origin and California-based Rocket Lab USA, which has a production plant in Middle River. Rocket Lab, which makes a launch vehicle called the Electron, has completed 14 missions this year from sites in New Zealand and Virginia.

Parlock said he is impressed with that company’s work and sees advantages in its proximity.

“How cool would it be if we planted a little Mid-Atlantic space community?” he said, to service companies offering satellites, payloads, rockets and launch facilities.

“[It would be] Maryland and Northern Virginia coming together to change how we’re approaching space, “ Parlock said.

Have a news tip? Contact Lorraine Mirabella at lmirabella@baltsun.com, 410-332-6672 and @lmirabella on X.