The price range is expected to be between $5.4 to $8.1 million.
AB Wire
Indian American Naveen Jain co-founded Moon Express, which was granted the license to launch a spacecraft and land on Moon by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) last week, is planning to take human remains too along with its cargo to the moon.
New York Post reported that the company is planning to take human ashes to the moon at $3 million per kilogram. Moon Express is expected to launch its spacecraft in 2017. It is the first private company to get the FAA approval to launch a spacecraft.
The price range is expected to be between $5.4 million to $8.1 million as the remains of an adult usually weigh between 4 to 6 pounds.
The company is also expecting high demand for the service. “We already have a long list,” Jain told New York Post.
Headquartered in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Moon Express was founded in 2010 by Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards, Naveen Jain, and Dr. Barney Pell. The company aims to decode the mysteries related to the Moon and explore its resources.
“The sky is not the limit for Moon Express – it is the Launchpad. This breakthrough ruling is another giant leap for humanity. Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children,” Naveen Jain, co-founder and chairman of Moon Express, Inc., had said.
It took Moon Express about four months to get the final approval by the U.S. government. The company applied for a 2017 commercial lunar mission to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and submitted its application on April 8, 2016.
“The Moon Express 2017 mission approval is a landmark decision by the U.S. government and a pathfinder for private sector commercial missions beyond the Earth’s orbit,” said Dr. Bob Richards, co-founder, and CEO, Moon Express.