When a loved one dies, their relatives may decide to cremate their body so that the ashes remain, in many cases, by prior decision of the person who dies. Those who leave sometimes even ask that their remains be thrown into the sea and others dreamed of becoming stardustsomething that can become reality thanks to an initiative of a lawyer and with the help of Elon Musk.
We could call it a new funeral service, devised by a Spanish lawyer named Andrea Santos, who has the project of create in 2023 a company that offers the possibility of sending the ashes of a family member, friend or loved one into space.
Santos, who spoke in an interview with Nius Diary, said that she is specialized in Space Law. A resident of Brussels, Belgium, she studied at the International Space University and currently works in the legal department of an aerospace engineering company.
The company he wants to create is ‘Stardust Space’, a project acclaimed at the International Astronautical Congress, for which he has the support of engineers, astronauts, astrophysicists, doctors and psychiatrists.
Ashes to space in a SpaceX rocket
Andrea Santos explained to the media how they would send the ashes into space and confirmed the participation of SpaceX: “‘Stardust’ will do everything, except for the last phase, the launch phase, that will be carried out by ‘SpaceX’, Elon Musk’s company”.
“It is common for companies to put their products inside the rockets that SpaceX launches into space. They can place satellites, other ships… And it would also have the capacity to carry our ashes in aluminum capsules”, he detailed.
Regarding how the service would be contracted, Santos indicated that he hopes it will also be offered by funeral homes: “The client will contact us through a website, although the idea is that funeral homes may also offer it as an additional service after cremation”.
“Stardust’ will send the family that aluminum capsule to put the ashes of the deceased person. Each capsule will carry a kilo of ash. Normally, on average, a cremated person can weigh 2.4 kilos, so it would be half. When the ship launches the ashes into orbit, they will coalesce into orbit and disintegrate into wake dust.r”.
Those interested must send the ashes to the United States. In each release, 100 capsules with the ashes of 100 deceased may go and the lawyer added that the service will have a value of 24 thousand euros.