This startup will send 1,000 people’s ashes to space — affordably — in 2027

Space Beyond, a startup founded by Ryan Mitchell—a former NASA and Blue Origin engineer—is launching an affordable "Ashes to Space" program scheduled for October 2027. The company plans to send up to 1,000 people’s cremated ashes into orbit aboard a CubeSat integrated on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission. Unlike existing memorial spaceflight services that typically cost thousands, Space Beyond’s entry-level offering starts at $249, made possible by leveraging the cost efficiencies of rideshare launches and a lean, bootstrapped business model focused on accessibility rather than high profits. Due to weight constraints inherent in CubeSat launches, customers can only send about one gram of ashes each, allowing the company to accommodate many individuals per mission. The CubeSat will orbit in a sun-synchronous orbit approximately 550 kilometers above Earth for about five years before re-entering the atmosphere and burning up, symbolically ending the memorial. Customers will be able to track the satellite as it passes over their location