Innovation & Job News

Black-owned Spacecraft Company Launches in Baltimore

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A team of African-American scientists and entrepreneurs is making Baltimore city its base of operations for space-bound technologies. Housed at the Emerging Technology Center at the former site of Eastern High School on 33rd Street in Waverly, Phezu Space, LLC aims to capitalize on government-led trends that will strengthen Maryland as a hub for advances in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, while creating marketable technology to serve a growing private space flight industry that is developing across the nation.

Jayfus Doswell is the Vice President of Research and Development at Phezu, and he is also the President & CEO of Juxtopia, a Baltimore-based company that develops biomedical and information-technology (BIO-IT) interfaces for medical and manufacturing applications. For example, Juxtopia aims to make medical procedures safer by incorporating advanced optics and software that complement expert physicians and their skills.

Phezu is building on the research base of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) like Morgan State, Bowie State, Coppin State, and University of Maryland-Eastern Shore to give students hands-on experience with products under development, while also reducing the rate at which the start-up space company uses its cash resources. With existing facilities at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center focused on satellite servicing and Senator Barbara Mikulski standing as a champion of ongoing research into in-orbit maintenance, Dr. Doswell says the company's first product will be a spacecraft that facilitates maintenance of satellites and other devices that were launched months or years before. Robotic arm operations will incorporate Juxtopia technology for remote work.

Though the products will eventually be applied far away from Charm City, Phezu is locking in the company's coordinates here. "We are making the commitment to keep production in Baltimore city," Dr. Doswell says. The company plans for its first prototype to be completed by the first quarter of 2012.

Writer: Sam Hopkins
Source: Dr. Jayfus Doswell, Phezu Space LLC

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