This week marks a milestone we’ve been working toward since Day 1 — the first Celestial Tribute Collection Kits have left our hands and are on their way to our earliest clients. 🚀✨
It’s a moment to celebrate, reflect, and look ahead. Each kit represents a symbolic journey to the stars, a chance to honor loved ones in a way that is lasting, meaningful, and deeply personal.
A Mission Born from Experience and Reflection
Ryan Mitchell has spent more than 20 years helping launch humans into the heavens on shuttles, rockets, and jets. Yet even after decades in aerospace, he noticed a gap: “Most of us will not be able to go to space during our lifetime,” he said. “So I created Space Beyond to create a pathway and opportunity for everyone to be part of this new space age.”
Space Beyond offers a chance for families to memorialize loved ones, both humans and pets, by sending a symbolic portion of their ashes into orbit. “Perhaps they have their ashes sitting in an urn on the shelf, or perhaps even in a box in the back corner of the closet,” Mitchell said. “And they’ve been looking for something to do.”
Reflecting on Progress
From the very beginning, our goal has been simple: make space memorials accessible, inclusive, and affordable. By designing efficient operations, piggybacking on Rideshare missions, and keeping the process streamlined, we can offer this experience at $249 — far below traditional offerings that start at thousands of dollars.
Mitchell calls it a way to “let go, but not say goodbye.” And today, mailing the first kits shows that vision in action. Each kit includes a small vial, funnel, spoon, and a pre-paid return postage label, providing everything families need to send a symbolic portion of ashes into orbit. Once integrated aboard our spacecraft and launched to space, families can track the journey in real time via a simple web or app-based tool, and the spacecraft’s eventual reentry will create a brief shooting star—a beautiful, final gesture visible from Earth.
Looking Ahead
This milestone is just the beginning. Each kit represents a story, a life, and a legacy now beginning its journey to Rest Among the Stars. In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll continue progressing, sharing updates, and improving the experience, always with the same goal: making space for every body.
To our early clients, thank you for trusting us on this journey. To everyone watching, we hope this milestone inspires you to consider new ways to celebrate the lives of those who matter most.
Thx