Can I Send Ashes to Space? An Interview with Thomas Civeit, Part One

Today in the first part of a two-part interview, SevenPonds speaks with Thomas Civeit, Founder and CEO of Elysium Space, an online and APP service company that provides families the opportunity to have their loved ones’ cremation ashes memorialized in space. Thomas is a space engineer, whose experience includes having worked with the team on both NASA’s Hubble and James Webb telescopes. In 2003, he also worked on the Huygens Probe. In 2010, he moved to Silicon Valley to work at NASA’s Ames Center and the subsequent energy of the startup ecosystem led him to found Elysium Space.

Credit: Thomas Cievit

Suzette: Your company is so intriguing. I see you have a strong background with deploying rockets into space. Having worked for NASA right here in Silicon Valley has given you the proper connections necessary for founding Elysium Space. How is it you decided to form a company to send ashes to space?

Thomas: When I moved to Silicon Valley, the energy of what was happening here was so intense. I had all these people around me who wanted to make things happen; it was exhilarating. I had early ideas of using the beauty of space as timely and universal. I wanted to go beyond technologically using space to that of a beautiful endless ocean filled with shooting stars and Milky Ways. I wanted to give people access to this type of unique memorialization.

Suzette: I love the idea of cremation ashes being placed in space. But what actually happens?

Thomas: What happens is the ashes burn up as a beautiful blazing shooting star. It’s a mesmerizing moment and an exceptional way to memorialize someone – literally dust to dust.

Credit: Thomas Cievit

Suzette: Wow that sounds amazing! What a metaphor for a final memorialization. So what is the process if I want to use your service?

Thomas: We send a special kit to the family. It contains a metal cube, one cubic centimeter – about the size a single dice. The family member places that amount of ashes in the cube and sends it back to us in the kit. The cube is placed in a tray along with all the others we receive. We place the tray in a spacecraft. There may be as many as several hundred other cubes. We receive ashes of loved ones from all over the world, but we only launch out of the U.S. at three locations — Florida, Virginia and California.

Credit: Thomas Cievit

Suzette: I noticed on your website you offer personalization for each cube?

Thomas: Yes, each metal cube can have the initials of the person who died. We also offer an 80 character message on the panel of the space craft. Family members love having a message as a final goodbye.

Suzette: I know there is another similar service (although I won’t name any names here) that’s been around for quite sometime. How is Elysium Space different?

Thomas: We did our marketing research and while this service was being offered over the last 15 to 20 years, there was a problem with their actually deploying very few missions. It was also more technologically oriented and not easily accessible to the average family unfamiliar with the space industry. So I knew there was a need for an accessible service. I asked many questions like “How will you remember someone from this?” and “How does it look from space?” This helped me shape the experience a person who lost someone would be seeking. So we created a beautiful experience of having your beloved travel among the stars. It’s a universal metaphor for anyone who wants something special as a stellar remembrance.

Join us next Saturday for Part Two of this interview when Thomas Civeit explains the Elysium Space APP, the first APP ever to track cremation ashes in space. He will also discuss one of the most common concerns, orbital pollution, as well as give us a peek into the future of what’s coming next.