Ventures: Space Burials on Hold

The countdown had been proceeding smoothly since January of last year, when former Astronaut Donald (Deke) Slayton announced that Houston-based Space Services, his private rocket-launching company, would soon begin sending aloft the cremated remains of customers who want to be buried in space. He said that for a fee of $3,900, the deceased would be reduced to an ounce or less of ash and placed in a 2-in. by 5/8-in. aluminum capsule. A drum containing 5,000 of the capsules would then be shot into orbit in a Conestoga II rocket.

But Slayton's venture has run into a glitch. The State of Florida has issued a cease-and-desist order to the Celestis Group, a Melbourne-based company set up by an undertaker, embalmer and engineer to deliver the remains to Slayton's firm. The state's charge: Celestis is operating an unlicensed cemetery. According to Florida law, a cemetery must include at least 15 acres of land and a road that leads to a highway.

Celestis plans to contest the charge before a state arbiter next month, arguing that Slayton's space mausoleum is not a cemetery but a transportation system. If the arbiter rules against Celestis, the company may sue Florida or move to Virginia, where the Space Services launching pad will be located. Slayton still hopes to begin his space burials in January 1988.