Space Oddity: Texas company will send your pet’s ashes into space

Whatever happened to the backyard burial?

Starting this fall, Texas company Celestis Inc. will be offering a one-of-a-kind, out-of-this-world memorial service for pets — by sending their cremated remains into space.

The Houston-based company already sends human remains into space — Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's ashes visited "the final frontier" thanks to Celestis' rocket service — and is now expanding its services to include pets.

This new initiative, a collaboration with San Diego-based Into the Sunset Pet Transition Center, is called "Celestis Pets."

According to the official site:

"Honour your best friend with a journey to the stars on board the world's first pet memorial spaceflight service."

Pet owners have multiples packages to choose from: for as little as $995, they can send a sample of their pet's ashes — just one gram, to keep costs down — into orbit on a commercial flight and have the remains returned to them in a capsule, and for a whopping $12,500, they can say goodbye to Fido forever.

"The Voyager service launches your pet on a voyage through deepest space, leaving the Earth-Moon system on a permanent celestial journey."

The Earth Orbit package, starting at $4,995, sends your pet's remains into orbit, vaporizing "like a shooting star" when they re-enter the atmosphere.

And for $12,500, the Luna package will send that small portion of your deceased pet's ashes to the moon.

Yes, your pet's memorial service will cost more than yours.

"The Apollo missions only took three days to get to the moon, so there could be a faster path," Steve Eisele, Director of Celestis Pets, said of the Luna package. "It all depends on the launch. It could take as little as three days, and up to years based on which trajectory is taken."

Before each send-off, Celestis Pets will host a memorial service:

"Celestis Pets will host family members and friends at a special facility we create for launch viewing. An on-site memorial service will be conducted in advance of the launch where you can meet other attendees and share experiences."

The launch will be live-streamed for those who can't attend, and all pet owners will receive a video of the launch as part of their purchased package.

Celestis Pets' inaugural commercial pet memorial spaceflight will take place in October with the remains of Apollo, a blue merle Australian shepherd.

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