SpaceX to Launch Over 150 Memorial DNA Capsules into Orbit on Celestis’ Perseverance Flight

There’s a Falcon 9 rocket slated to lift off on June 23, 2025, with a unique memorial payload — over 150 capsules of cremated remains and DNA samples will circle the Earth. Aboard the SpaceX Transporter-14 rideshare mission, Celestis will fly its “Perseverance Flight”, which is being conducted in collaboration with Europe’s The Exploration Company (TEC). The launch is scheduled for 5:18 p.m. EDT (2118 GMT) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The TEC capsule, dubbed “Mission Possible”, marks the company’s first customer payload flight and will briefly orbit Earth before reentry, offering a new kind of cosmic farewell to participants worldwide.

SpaceX to Launch Celestis Memorial Flight with 150 DNA Capsules, Including Youngest European

As per a report from Space.com, the Perseverance capsule will circle Earth two to three times before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. The capsules will then be recovered and returned to families as keepsakes. Celestis, which pioneered space memorials in 1994, calls this its 12th Earth Rise flight and 25th overall. TEC views this launch as a key step before the debut of its Nyx Earth vehicle, expected to dock with the ISS in 2028.

Celestis has previously launched DNA and cremated remains of cultural icons, including “Star Trek” cast members, visual effects artist Douglas Trumbull, and symbolic remains of four U.S. presidents. The mission, said to combine reverence with innovation, is being presented as both a technical demonstration and a deeply personal experience for participating families.

One of the most celebrated participants is three-year-old Matteo Barth, who will be the youngest German—and probably the youngest European—to send his DNA to space. His participation is a tribute to his grandfather’s memory, the late Dieter Barth, and a testament to an intergenerational shared love of space.

The Perseverance Flight is also the latest example of a broader trend in space memorials: that of advancing technology meeting deeply personal remembrance. Leveraging SpaceX’s successful history of launching things into space and TEC’s pioneering work, the mission is an accomplishment in tribute as well as progress.