Ashes in Orbit: Celestis Spaceflights and the Invention of Post-cremationist Afterlives

Abstract

Americans increasingly cremate rather than bury their dead, and post-cremation memorial services, such as ash-scattering ceremonies over sea and land, have emerged as a new arena of commercial enterprise and consumer spirituality. Celestis spaceflights, begun in 1997, elevate personal ash-scattering rituals into public performances of the technological sublime by sending tiny samples of cremated remains into earth orbit. The company's promotional materials construct the ashes' journey, inspired by science fiction and the space programmes, as a spiritual quest to the stars. Sending ashes into orbit, like cryonic suspension and human cloning, illustrates a cultural imaginary linking technology with the transcendence of mortality. While Celestis spaceflights have remained marginal to mainstream culture, their version of an afterlife journey invents a new kind of gothic undead: the posthumous cremain-astronaut, enjoying a heavenly, once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Keywords:

• Cremation
• funerals
• memorial services
• American way of death

Notes

The company has a somewhat complex history. For simplicity I refer to Celestis, the registered brand name in use since approximately 1984 (Space Services Incorporated, 2004–2008, celestis.asp. Subsequent references in the text to individual pages within the company's website will identify the relevant path and filename, so the full address for this reference would be http://www.memorialspaceflights.com/celestis.asp).

Prices are taken from sales packs received by the author in 2003 and 2008, respectively. The prices of Celestis's other services have not increased across the board, however; some have decreased.

According to the Cremation Association of North America, in 2005 cremation accounted for over 60% of disposals in Hawaii, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. In Mississippi and Alabama the corresponding figure was under 10%, but this is still double the figure for 1999 (Cremation Association of North America, 2007, pp. 4–5, 2004). Nationwide, the average figure has increased from approximately 27% in 2001 to 32% in 2005 and is expected to grow to over 50% by 2025 (Cremation Association of North America, 2007, p. 7). In Britain, the early growth of the cremation movement was more rapid than in America, and since 1990 cremations have accounted each year for around 70% of disposals (Cremation Society of Great Britain, 2007).

At the time of writing, there have been five ‘Earth Orbit’ flights (sustained orbit followed by burn-up on re-entry) compared to one ‘Earth Rise’ mission (brief orbit followed by controlled re-entry and safe return of cremains) (Space Services Incorporated, 2004–2008, manifest.asp). ‘Luna’ and ‘Voyager’ services, sending ashes to the moon and into deep space, respectively, are planned for 2011–2012.

The memorial pages give a fair idea of the profile of Celestis's customer-base and of some of the meanings that individual customers might attach to the service. Roddenberry's endorsement of the inaugural flight helps to explain the prevalence of science fiction enthusiasts. The majority of customers are American, but Celestis has also internationalised its customer base since its first flight to include passengers from, for example, Europe and Japan—perhaps indicating the appeal of Star Trek and the dream of space flight outside America.