Follow US Immigration and US Life: Within the next 10 years, the commercialization of space will emerge, filled with various expensive space tourism projects, such as a $200,000 suborbital weightlessness experience, relatively affordable high-altitude balloon flights at 30,000 meters, and the extremely expensive $25 million 7-day International Space Station experience. However, some companies are setting their sights on space funerals. A company called Elysium Space plans to send cremated ashes into space, becoming a "sky burial" in another sense. However, the ashes sent into space do not fly beyond the Earth's gravitational control; they will become "space debris" in Earth's orbit, and as the altitude continuously drops, the urn will gradually turn into a "shooting star."
Elysium Space hopes to launch its first commercial space funeral in 2014. Thomas Civeit, a former NASA engineer and founder of the company, believes that launching an urn into Earth's orbit is a very unique funeral ceremony that allows family and friends to remember this moment forever. This is because the space funeral is accompanied by a mobile app that can locate the deceased's ashes in the sky, allowing one to remember this moment on their phone. The cost of sending ashes into space is not exorbitantly high; according to the company's quote, the fee for low Earth orbit is only $2,000, which is much cheaper than the $200,000 for a few minutes of suborbital experience. Relevant launch services are expected to be available next year.
Currently, commercial space companies are gradually occupying low Earth orbit business. From unmanned cargo services to space station crew transfers, private aerospace agencies are playing an increasingly important role. SpaceX is clearly the leader in this group, and the launch price of its "Falcon" series rockets is very cheap, with a standard price of around $54 million. In addition to sending astronauts and cargo into low Earth orbit, the company is also cooperating with Elysium Space to provide projects for sending ashes into space. Furthermore, Orbital Sciences Corporation has also joined this group. It is expected that the first batch of ashes will enter space in the summer of 2014, and the launch site will remain at the Cape Canaveral Launch Center in Florida.
The idea of sending ashes into space is not unique to Elysium Space. Since 1997, the Houston-based company Celestis has offered this service, and the ashes of Gene Roddenberry, the father of "Star Trek," were sent into space at that time.