Send a family member's ashes on a final journey around the Earth.

Believe it or not, you'll soon be able to send the remains of a loved one into space for the low price of $2,500. Elysium Space, the self-described "memorial spaceflight" company, has just announced a partnership with SpaceX to launch annual flights where you can send your family into space in lieu of a traditional funeral or burial service. So far, more than 100 people have booked a spot on the Elysium Star II mission, which will consist of an unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket (pictured above) launching from the Vandenberg Air Force base in southern California.

After the rocket launches, it'll travel around the Earth in a "Sun-synchronous orbit" that will ensure the rocket passes "over every location in the world." Following the two-year journey, the rocket will re-enter Earth's orbit and burn up on re-entry. People who participate in this program will be able to follow the ship's exact location via an iOS / Android app. All this comes at the starting price of $2,490, which is not all that unreasonable given how much a typical funeral can cost.

However, there's no word on when this first launch will actually happen. The upside there is that there's still plenty of time for you to book a spot on this unusual memorial flight.

Source:
courtesy of ENGADGET

by Nathan Ingraham, @nateingraham

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]