Now you can have your very own space funeral

WHAT better way to memorialise a loved one than to shoot their ashes into space, to orbit earth for months? Now you can.

Elysium Space is offering celestial funerals, where they rocket the remains of loved ones into space. Picture: Elysium Space

WHAT better way to memorialise a loved one than to shoot their ashes into space, to orbit earth for months, right?

A San Francisco company, Elysium Space, is now selling "Memorial Spaceflights", where you buy a special ash capsule, fill it with the remains, and they launch it into space from Camp Canaveral in Florida.

On its website, the company says the memorial is poetic and dignified.

"Our specially-designed memorial spacecraft respectfully and peacefully orbits the earth for several months," it says.

"Eventually, in a last poetic moment, the spacecraft harmlessly re-enters the earth's atmosphere, blazing as a shooting star."

Those who purchase a memorial spaceflight can watch the launch from a special viewing platform, are provided with a video of the launch, and can track the ashes' progress on a smartphone app.

The next launch is scheduled for mid-2014, and the memorials cost about $2100.

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