Our Mission

Since you’re here, there’s a good chance someone you love is still at home, waiting. On a shelf. In a closet. Somewhere that hasn’t felt like the right answer. Not anymore, at least. You’re ready to let go, without saying goodbye.

You certainly haven’t forgotten your loved one. You’ve been searching for unique and meaningful ways to honor and remember them. You’ve thought about scattering at sea, or in a park. You might even be considering keepsake jewelry, art, or memorial stones. It’s just that nothing yet has felt quite right for them.

Space Beyond was built for exactly this. An affordable space memorial, built for you. Here’s how we got here.

When I was twelve years old, my brother and I wired surround sound speakers in our bedroom to play the Saturn V launch from Apollo 13 at full volume. Rattled the glasses right off the shelf in the next room. My mom was furious. My dad found it pretty amusing. The now-cracking ceiling above us was our own solar system, glow-in-the-dark stars and planets placed with the obsessive care only a kid that age can manage.

…and I never really grew out of it.

Fast forward 30 years. I was one of the early members of the Florida team at Blue Origin, working for nearly a decade across engineering, operations, leadership, and infrastructure. My fingerprints are on every facility at the manufacturing complex and I had a hand in building the first New Glenn vehicles. I believe in the mission, genuinely, that space will be opened for all, no longer the exclusive domain of governments and billionaires.

By early 2025, it was time to go. Blue was doing incredible things and would continue to do so without me. What followed was unexpected: I sat down with a blank notebook and started writing. Filled several pages trying to work out what I actually wanted to do next. The same idea kept appearing. And I kept trying to talk myself out of it. Starting a company to send people’s ashes to space felt too lofty. Too ambitious. Too far outside of my comfort zone.

I spent a week methodically analyzing, evaluating, and scoring every one of the dozens of possibilities. When I presented my conclusions to my wife she told me she could have saved me the trouble.

I hadn’t stopped talking about ashes to space since day one.

So here we are.

What kept pulling me back: tens of millions of sets of cremated remains are sitting in homes across America right now. Some families are at peace with that. But many aren’t, holding on because nothing has ever felt meaningful enough. Worthy enough. Right enough for their loved one.

Space memorials have existed since the 90s. Multiple companies doing something genuinely beautiful, beloved by their clients. But the price of entry for an orbital mission like this one has been several thousand dollars. Minimum.

For most families, that’s not a price. That’s a wall.

Reusable rockets changed the math. SpaceX, Falcon 9, rideshare missions. The economics of getting to orbit had fundamentally shifted. The engineering challenge remained. That’s the kind of problem I know how to solve.

You’ve been waiting for something that finally feels right. You found it. A tribute as limitless as the life they lived. A journey, not a goodbye.

Space will no longer be a gated community. Not on my watch.

— Ryan Mitchell, Founder