SpaceX is launching its Transporter-14 mission with cremated remains and DNA samples to low-Earth orbit on June 24. The mission is scheduled to lift off at 2:48 am IST atop the Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Being a rideshare mission, Transporter-14 has 70 payloads including cubesats, microsats and re-entry capsules that will be deployed at different stages of the launch.

You can watch the launch live on SpaceX‘s website or its X profile. The webcast will begin 15 minutes prior to liftoff.

Targeting Sunday, June 22 for a Falcon 9 launch of the Transporter-14 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E in California. Teams are keeping an eye on weather → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK pic.twitter.com/UUJMwtwOFS
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 21, 2025

One of the payload belongs to European spacecraft manufacturer The Exploration Company (TEC) that has collaborated with Celestis, the private firm that launches cremated remains on memorial flights for paying customers who want to honour their dear departed. TEC will reportedly host the Celestis payload containing 166 capsules that will complete two or three orbits of Earth before reentering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. These capsules will then be handed over to relatives of the deceased who were fascinated by space and once dreamt of flying to orbit.

According to Space.com, Celestis will create history by launching the DNA of a 3-year-old child Matteo Barth from Germany into space. The company has previously launched the remains of his late grandfather due to his fascination with space exploration.

ALSO SEE: He Didn’t Live To See NASA’s Futuristic Mission, But His Ashes Will Join It In Space

🚀 The Perseverance Launch events are underway! 🚀
🕯 Following the memorial service, we will upload a recorded webcast so you can watch and share this beautiful tribute to the 166 loved ones aboard Perseverance Flight.

Launch on Saturday! Webcast details to be posted. pic.twitter.com/0tPnHHbjMJ
— Celestis, Inc. 🚀 Memorial Spaceflights (@celestisflights) June 20, 2025

Late aerospace engineer Wesley Melvin Dreyer is another person whose DNA is part of the Perseverance payload. According to Times of San Diego, he was one of the engineers who helped uncover the cause of NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Karin Neilson has also sent her late husband Steve’s ashes to Celestis to honour his obsession with space. “I’m just going to be thinking about how much he is loved,” Karin said per News & Observer. “He always complained how unfair it was that billionaires and their rich friends could go to outer space and the people who really wanted to go couldn’t because they couldn’t afford it.”

According to New York Post, a family from Texas, US have even send ashes of their deceased dog Franz for the Perseverance flight. “He was the best dog, just so soft and nice and loved hugs,” the dog’s owner Harvin Moore told NY Post.

ALSO SEE: When Cremated Remains Crashed On The Moon; The Story Of First Lunar Burial

(Image: SpaceX)