Space firm joins the funeral sector

A British space firm are joining the funeral care industry with a unique new twist on ashes scattering.

Sent Into Space, founded by two PhD graduates from the University of Sheffield, are Europe’s leading high altitude specialists and most frequent near space flight conductors in the world. Their new venture, Ascension Flights, will enable families to send their loved ones’ ashes to the edge of space, where they will be released into the high-altitude winds of the stratosphere.

Flights are filmed in HD, with footage of ash dispersal against the curvature of the earth and the darkness of space at an altitude of 30 kilometres.

Any residual moisture in the canister freezes instantly, creating a plume of glitter.

Trials of the new service using non-human ashes and other synthetic substitutes have taken place over the last two years, with the mechanism used for dispersal going through several iterations until the team were confident in its reliability.

Alex Keen, Project Lead, says “Scattering ashes has been on our minds since the company began and over the years we’ve had more inquiries about it than anything else.

“With grief being such a complex emotion, we knew we had to get every part of this service right. That’s why we want to partner with existing funeral service providers to organise these launches and ensure a level of care and consideration for the customer at every stage of the operation.”

Ascension Flights are currently seeking funeral directors who want to offer the Ascension service through their branches, with a 20 percent commission for each referral in exchange for acting as the primary contact with the customer during the process.

The service covers three packages at a range of price points, starting with the Simple Scattering at £795. The Memorial Scattering, which includes the production of a memorial video from the footage captured on the launch, is expected to be the most popular option at £1895.

For more information or to enquire about offering the service to your customers, get in touch at info@sentintospace.com.