This October 17th, the funeral and cemetery industry is marking something new: the first-ever National Cremation Placement Day, created by Coldspring and supported by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA). It lands on the third Saturday of October every year from here on. The timing isn’t random. 2026 marks 150 years since the first crematory opened in the US, back in 1876.
We’re Space Beyond. We send a symbolic portion of cremated remains into Earth orbit, and we’ve spent a long time thinking about exactly the question this day is raising.
The idea behind the day is simple:
Cremation is now the most common choice for final disposition in this country.
But choosing cremation doesn’t answer the next question:
What do you actually do with the ashes?
Millions of families are still holding onto them, at home, in a closet, on a shelf, with no plan. Nobody handed them a clear next step, and holding on to the ashes felt right at the moment. We think the people behind this day got that part exactly right. Chances are you or someone in your family has ashes in a box somewhere right now, and has for some time.
If that’s you, there’s no deadline you missed. You’re not behind, and you’re not alone.
Where we’d add something is what comes next.
The day’s message, understandably coming from the mainstream deathcare industry, points toward one answer: permanent placement in a cemetery. A niche, a plot, a monument. That’s a real and meaningful choice for a lot of families, and if that’s what feels right for yours, we hope this day gets you there.
But it’s not the only shape a placement can take. Last year, during an interview for SpaceNews, I said something that has stuck with me since:
That’s still true. The real opponent here is the ashes never getting a place at all, just stuck waiting.
So here’s what we’d add to the conversation this October: placement doesn’t have to mean the ground. For some families, it means orbit too.
Ashes to Space sends a small symbolic portion of cremated remains, less than a teaspoon, into Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX rocket. It’s integrated and sealed into our custom spacecraft, and stays up there for about five years. The rest of the ashes stay with you.
For comparison: a cemetery plot or columbarium niche alone typically runs $1,000 to $5,000 once you add the opening fee, the vault, and a marker. Ashes to Space is $249, flat, no hidden add-ons.
And it doesn’t have to replace anything.
Most of the families we work with aren’t choosing between space and everything else. They’re choosing space alongside everything else: a portion scattered somewhere that mattered to their loved one, a portion stays with them, and a portion travels on to orbit.
Nobody says you have to pick just one, and your family doesn’t have to agree on just one either. Everyone can choose the piece that feels right to them. This isn’t an either-or question. It’s a yes-and decision.
If National Cremation Placement Day does nothing else, we hope it does this:
Give people permission to stop putting the decision off.
You don’t need a special occasion to decide. But if this is the nudge that finally gets you there, we’re glad it exists, whichever answer you land on.
Not sure what to do with the ashes you’re holding?
