If Celestis doesn't need to refly participants, it scatters the backup ashes near the launch site.Īlex's request to be sent into space didn't come as a shock, given the way he lived his life. The company asks clients to send at least twice as many ashes needed to fly, in case there's a failure (and there have been a few). They then bolt that sleeve to a launch vehicle or satellite. To prepare for a launch, technicians glue small capsules filled with ashes into a metal sleeve. 'The pace is accelerating as the trends are accelerating,' Chafer says. Five launches are scheduled to take place over the next two years. That's important in keeping with the company's commitment not to add to space junk, Chafer says.Ĭelestis has had 16 launches so far from locations including Cape Canaveral, the Marshall Islands and the Canary Islands. The payload is small enough that it burns up entirely when re-entering the Earth at the end of its orbital lifetime, which ranges from a few months to a few hundred years.

Space memorials are becoming increasingly popular thanks to growing cremation rates and a declining emphasis on cultural and religious traditions, says Celestis co-founder and CEO Charles Chafer, who started the company in 1994.Īshes sent as part of Celestis's orbital service fly as what's called a 'secondary payload,' meaning they're sent on spacecraft from commercial providers headed into space for other purposes. Other companies such as Aura Flights and Elysium Space offer similar services. (The average cost of a funeral in the US, by comparison, is around $9,000.) The service has attracted high-profile clients including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and astronaut Gordon Cooper. Companies like Celestis offer a range of experiences, from an Earth Rise service that takes someone's ashes into space and brings them back, to Earth orbit and deep space options. Steven's family is among a growing number of people looking to space as a final resting place. 'He'd be so excited that he was in space,' Christine says. Another portion of his ashes will fly aboard the Luna 02 mission, which is slated for takeoff in 2022. Last June, a portion of Steven's ashes - along with cremated remains from over 150 other Celestis clients - were flown into Earth's orbit aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Their daughter took out her phone, did a quick search and pulled up a company called Celestis. When Steven was close to death in 2017, there was a consensus among family members that a space burial would be the best way to send him off.

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