A unique payload is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the company’s Transporter 14 rideshare mission. This special cargo consists of more than 150 capsules containing DNA and cremated human remains, bound for orbit as part of a memorial spaceflight service provided by Houston-based company Celestis.
The mission, known as the “Perseverance Flight,” is scheduled to lift off on Monday, June 23, 2025, at 5:18 p.m. EDT (2118 GMT) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 booster B1071 is slated to carry the payload, following a southward trajectory to achieve a Sun-synchronous orbit. After payload deployment, the booster is expected to attempt a landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship in the Pacific Ocean.
Pioneering Space Memorials
Celestis has been a leader in the burgeoning space-burial industry since its founding in 1994. The company specializes in sending symbolic portions of cremated remains and DNA samples of loved ones, including pets and celebrities, into space on various missions using different launch vehicles.
Over the years, Celestis flights have carried the remains or DNA of numerous notable figures. These include several legends from the “Star Trek” universe, such as actors Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, and James “Scotty” Doohan, along with creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull, known for work on films like “2001: A Space Odyssey,” has also been among those remembered in space. Additionally, symbolic remains of four former U.S. presidents – George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan – were part of last year’s deep-space “Enterprise Flight.”
A New Partnership for Perseverance
For the upcoming Perseverance Flight, Celestis has partnered with European spacecraft manufacturer The Exploration Company (TEC). TEC will host the special Celestis payload aboard its “Mission Possible” capsule, marking a significant collaboration for both companies.
This mission serves as TEC’s second demonstrator flight and represents the first time their spacecraft will carry customer payloads into orbit. It’s also a step towards the inaugural mission of TEC’s Nyx Earth orbital vehicle, which is planned to dock with the International Space Station around 2028.
The “Earth Rise” Journey
The Perseverance Flight is designed as an “Earth Rise” mission, one of Celestis’ signature service types. After reaching low Earth orbit, the TEC Mission Possible capsule housing the memorial payload will circle the planet two or three times.
Crucially, the Mission Possible vehicle is designed to protect the memorial capsules during atmospheric reentry. Following its orbital laps, the capsule will reenter the atmosphere and perform a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Recovery teams will then retrieve the capsule and its contents, returning the memorial capsules to clients as cherished keepsakes of their loved one’s journey to space and back. This will be Celestis’ 12th Earth Rise flight and their 25th space mission overall.
Charles Chafer, Celestis co-founder and CEO, expressed enthusiasm for this new type of Earth Rise mission facilitated by The Exploration Company, highlighting the unique experience it offers participants through a combination of spectacular liftoff and recovery.
A Personal Connection in the Stars
Among the more than 150 participants on this mission is three-year-old Matteo Barth, whose DNA will make him the youngest German and youngest European to send his genetic material into space. Matteo’s DNA will symbolically join that of his late grandfather, Dieter Barth, within the TEC capsule. This touching gesture honors the grandfather’s lifelong passion for space and exploration, blending cutting-edge space technology with a deeply personal memorial tribute.
As the private spaceflight sector continues to grow, missions like the Celestis Perseverance Flight on SpaceX’s Transporter 14 demonstrate the expanding possibilities for personal memorials and tributes extending beyond Earth.
