Vancouver family sending love one’s remains to space

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Josh Jensen loved space, sci-fi, animals and Marvel. His mother, Heather, said he was talkative, and although blunt at times, he was a kind and sweet young man. 

“He loved talking to people. He was a true conversationalist. He loved to just have you in his room and just talk about everything under the sun,” she said. 

Josh Jensen lived with muscular dystrophy, a progressive, muscle-wasting disease. Over the summer, he caught COVID-19. In July 2024, he passed away.

“His body just couldn’t couldn’t deal with it anymore. It was too much of a fight, and his heart just ended up giving out,” Heather Jensen said.

His family wanted to honor him in a special way, and when they learned about Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, they knew they had to do it for Josh.

“It’s kind of almost more for us, because it really gives us a sense of peace that he, his physical being, is somewhere where he probably would love to be,” she said.

Celestis officers four different services, with some launching remains to the moon and even as far as deep space. The cost of this ranges, from the service that launches remains on a rocket up to space, before returning right back down the same day, coming in at around $3,500, to the moon and deep space service, which is around $13,000. 

The Earth orbit service, which is the most popular one and the one that Josh has, comes in at $5,000, according to Celestis President Colby Youngblood.

“To see the families, they’re cheering, they’re crying, they’re hugging, it’s an extremely emotional experience, and it feels really good for our team to be able to provide that for the families,” Youngblood said.

“For us here on Earth, just to have to witness, you know, him having to be bound to his bed, bound to his wheelchair, so many things that he couldn’t do physically that this for us, I think, is just a representation of him finally being free, and his physical part going up to the sky,” Heather Jensen said.

Sending remains into space isn’t a new concept; it has been around since the 90s, and others have also elected to have their loved ones remembered in this way nearby as well. Since the mid-90s, Celestis has flown 23 memorial spaceflights, said Youngblood.

Josh’s mission, called the Serenity Flight, will take off in April 2025 from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

“Josh’s flight capsule will be attached to a satellite and that satellite will be deployed into what’s called low Earth orbit, and it will literally travel at 17,000 miles an hour, orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes and in about three years, give or take, the satellite will have to be decommissioned, and brought back out of orbit, and when it does, the satellite and the flight capsule will burn up entirely,” said Youngblood. “Josh’s flight capsule at that time will come into the atmosphere as a shooting star.”

These aluminum flight capsules are small, around 6 millimeters thick. Each capsule contains one to three grams of a loved one’s ashes. They’re integrated inside the satellite, and then the satellite is integrated inside the fairing.

“Watching your loved one take off on a rocket brings a strong sense of closure, that words don’t really do it justice, it’s something that you have to see and feel to get an understanding,” Youngblood said. 

Heather said, due to her youngest son having muscular dystrophy as well, her family can’t travel to Florida to watch it launch. Instead, they plan to watch it on a livestream during a watch party.

“We love him and we miss him so much, and we know that he’ll be here with us when we have that party, and we know that he’ll be here with us in spirit as he goes up in flight,” she said.

Those who have not passed away can also send their DNA to space, or those that would just like to also send a part of them to space with their deceased loved one as well.