Baltimore startup aims to be ‘FedEx for space,’ shipping cargo into orbit faster and cheaper

As space commerce continues to expand globally, a Baltimore startup that calls itself “FedEx for space” just made itself known in the industry. 

Space Phoenix, which held its launch party at the end of August, is trying to make it easier for small and medium sized businesses and organizations to access space, per the startup’s cofounder and CEO Andrew Parlock. 

Parlock envisions the firm being a third party logistics provider, he explained, at a low cost with a fast turnaround. He’s aiming to help people get their payloads — different instruments that can be used for communications, data collection or whatever needs to be delivered — launched and returned from space. 

“The industry is massively constrained because there’s all this friction to get to space,” Parlock told Technical.ly. “If you want to bring something to space, Space Phoenix’s model is do the thing that you do best …  and then we’ll take care of everything else.”

Currently a team of seven, Phoenix has a swift timeline. Target launch for its first satellite with a payload is spring of 2025, after some flight model testing earlier that year. The plan is then to launch a spacecraft in 2026, and by 2028 be sending one up once or twice a month. The startup is not a rocket company, Parlock clarified, and will be outsourcing that. 

Parlock attributes the speed to the fact that the team isn’t inventing new tech to do this work, but instead, for the most part, reconfiguring existing tools. 

“We’re trying to bring together proven technology in a novel package,” he said. 

He’s been working directly with NASA on reentry, the return of a spacecraft into Earth’s atmosphere, but no contracts have yet been signed with the agency. Parlock also noted Space Phoenix spacecrafts aim to be repairable and reusable. 

Space commercialization boom and a need for infrastructure

Space commercialization has ramped up in recent years because of a couple of reasons, said Kelli Kedis Ogborn, the vice president of space commerce and entrepreneurship at the Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit the Space Foundation. 

With the International Space Station expected to retire in 2030, the business model is shifting. Instead of being the builder and the integrator, NASA is now the customer, she said. Companies are planning for their own commercial space stations, including Texas’ Axiom Space. 

As these stations get built, there is going to be a need for infrastructure, Ogborn said. Systems in place for manufacturing, refueling and repairing in space will be required. Those stations will be a cornerstone, but more will be needed to sustain space commerce, she explained. 

Parlock from Space Phoenix also called to that need. Part of why the space commerce market is so cumbersome is because of a lack of infrastructure.

“We’re hoping to reduce, get rid of those, or eliminate those constraints, or at least help eliminate those constraints,” he said. 

Space commerce has steadily increased in recent years. There were 223 orbital launches in 2023 across the globe, according to the tracking by the Atlanta aerospace company SpaceWorks. Ogborn attributes this to how “reliable” and “routine” rockets have become, like Space X’s Falcon 9, which is reusable. 

“What that means is that we are now accessing space more frequently and cheaper,” Ogborn said. “More people are now not priced out of space, and now have an opportunity and an option to engage in a way that was really never on the table for them before.”

She called Space Phoenix’s model “smart,” and noted this follows a trend of companies looking to low Earth orbit, i.e. the area of space just above the planet’s atmosphere. In her work, she’s seen more private capital investment in companies aiming to low and medium earth orbit. 

“There’s going to be lots of stuff that needs to get up and needs to come back reliably,” she said. “And so having a capability to do that is really going to be critical.” 

Parlock acknowledged Space Phoenix has competitors. These include large aerospace firms like Space X, which makes the Dragon spacecraft, and Boeing with its now-infamous Starliner. There are also smaller firms, like Loft Orbital out of San Francisco and the Exploration Company in Germany, Parlock noted. 

But Space Phoenix is different, he insists. Why? Many companies are focused on flying humans and cargo, while this firm is just focused on cargo. 

“We’re truly third party logistics for space,” Parlock said. 

He’s going into a robust market — the space economy is estimated to be valued at $1.8 trillion by 2035, according to the World Economic Forum. As of 2023, it’s valued at $630 billion. 

‘Baltimore’s the right place’

Right now, Parlock is focusing on fundraising. To get through the first launch, Parlock said $10 million is needed between a pre-seed and a seed round. That’s not a lot of funds for a typical space company, he noted, but because Space Phoenix is focused on using proven tech, the capital needed is lower. 

“It’s an art,” he said, “as much as it is a science, raising money.”

Space commerce efforts are popping up globally. But aerospace giants like Northrop Grumman, headquartered nearby in Falls Church, established a presence in the Baltimore region because of its reputation for innovation and tech, Space Foundation’s Ogborn believes. Specifically, because of the manufacturing and cybersecurity sectors, she said. There’s also Baltimore’s proximity to the federal government to note, she said. 

Parlock said he appreciates Baltimore’s access to federal agencies like NASA, and said he plans to be in the region for “a good long while.” 

He did note that he wants to expand Space Phoenix eventually and open facilities across the US and internationally. 

“We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the scrappiness to do what space Phoenix is trying to do,” Parlock said. “Because we’re trying to change a market, and I think Baltimore’s the right place to do that.”