GWR speaks to Celestis founder about burials in space and upcoming mission to Mars
When Charles Chafer (USA) was a boy, he watched with fascination as astronauts climbed towards the moon aboard the Apollo spacecraft, finally bridging that uncrossable domain between Earth and other planets.
Now, over five decades later, Charles is one of the experts in this field – as the Founder and CEO of Celestis, a private memorial spaceflight company that launched the largest space burial in history. In 2012, they took samples of the cremated remains of 308 people on the Falcon 9 rocket, and released the canister of ashes into the sky to float eternally among the stars.
The launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon capsule, on 22 May 2012. Image credit: NASA
Yet the entrepreneur has come a long way since he launched his first rocket, Conestoga 1, back in 1982 with Space Services, Inc., which some date as the birth of the commercial space age.
When he spoke with GWR in an interview, Charles discussed how our changing society and technology has expanded access to the final frontier, so much so that the company has announced a Mars expedition (dubbed Mars300) in the near future. Although no official plans are in place yet, interested participants can put their investment in a trust, and wait until their ashes can reach a planet their body could not in life.
“I think the evolution of spaceflight is, in many ways, like the evolution of flight on the Earth – which is, at first, daring, and then all of a sudden we’re moving the equivalent of the US population across the Atlantic every year on airplanes…” said Charles.
“When we did our first launch in ‘82, we were literally the first company ever to put a rocket in space,” he continued. “And at the time, the dominant model was government access to space.
“I think that it just was inevitable that if there was a market for commercial space activities, then it would be a private market and not a government market.”
A Celestis rocket
Today, Celestis has completed more than two dozen memorial spaceflights – from “Earth Rise” missions that return flown capsules to families, to orbital flights, lunar missions, and deep-space voyages. And at large, science has progressed to the point that these experiences can even be more affordable than funeral services on Earth (Celestis packages start around $3,495, or £2,555).
“There’s a lot more capability out there than there was before,” he continued. “And so as a result, where we once had to wait almost a decade between flights, now we can fly as many times a year as we want into Earth’s orbit – deep space and lunar [missions] are still hard, but they’re doable.”
A Celestis rocket
His company has been operating these private spaceflights since 1997, after an inaugural mission named the Founders Flight blasted off in a Pegasus rocket containing 24 lipstick-sized capsules with the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and others.
After promising Roddenberry’s widow to reunite their ashes together on a “forever journey”, Charles finally fulfilled her wish in 2024 with the Enterprise Flight – which is one of many services offered by the company, pledging a permanent celestial orbit around the Sun.
“There’s so many people in the world that want to go to space in their lifetime, but they just can’t,” explained Charles. “It’s easier now than it was when we started, but it’s still really hard now.
“So as a statement – as a symbolic fulfillment to a lifelong goal – it just makes sense to offer this service,” he said.
Charles also remarked that this service is appealing for people regardless of origin, simply because we have this romanticized notion that there’s a broader sense of connectivity to the universe – by quoting Carl Sagan, “We are made of star stuff.”
He even admits that space informs his own view of life on Earth, saying that his pessimistic outlook towards society during the Vietnam War was changed after reading an editorial by Princeton professor Gerard O’Neill, who Charles paraphrased as “we can open the door on a closed world by just going 100 miles up.” O’Neill’s story inspired Charles to pursue space services, and as a result, more people are able to achieve their dreams of interplanetary travel than ever before.
“We’ve had people from all walks of life. We’ve flown the famous, the explorers, the astronauts, the movie stars, restaurant owners, truck drivers, and Joe Normal,” he said. And as more people opt for cremations rather than burials, the idea that you can disperse your ashes somewhere significant to yourself – even in space – becomes more and more appealing.
“I think it’s as simple as, we’re going to take all of our rituals with us wherever we go,” said Charles.
So who knows – could your new resting place be Mars?
Well, Charles definitely thinks so, even if it’ll take a few years for the mission to take off.
“Why not?” he asked. “Why not start offering the service as long as we’re fully transparent with folks about, we don’t know when you’re going, but we do know, you’ll go with us.”
Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS
And for those wishing to reach the stars in their own lifetimes, Charles also gave a few words of advice for the next generation of pioneering scientists:
“Preserverence. Know what you want to do… if you stick around long enough, you win,” Charles said. “I’ll put another P-word with it. Passion. You’ve got to have the passion to do those record-breaking or amazing things.”
And as far as passion’s concerned, it’s clear that this entrepreneur has a lot of it… so congratulations on your record-breaking career, Charles – we hope to see you one day in space!
Header image: NASA