| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Space burial |
| Founded | December 2017 in Tsukuba, Japan |
| Founder | Tomoko Kasai |
| Fate | Active |
| Headquarters | Tsukuba, Japan |
| Website | www |
Space NTK is a space funeral company providing space burial services for the cremated remains of both human and pets. The company also conducts space pre-funeral by sending part of one's body such as nails and hair to space. Space NTK was founded by Tomoko Kasai in 2017.
Flights
The company's first satellite, Magokoro was launched on 1 April 2022 as part of SpaceX's Transporter-4 mission. As of May 2022, Space NTK's second satellite was planned to be launched in January 2023. The company's first space pre-funeral is scheduled to be launched in 2025. In an interview from 2021 Kasai stated that in the future it may become possible for one to perform cremation scattering on the Moon or Mars.
Magokoro
Magokoro (Japanese for sincerity) is Space NTK's first space burial mission and carries the cremated remains of ten humans and pets. The ashes are kept inside aluminum cylinders, which in turn are placed inside a metal box. There are three boxes in total, one of which contains the cremated remains. Another box carries 200 paper cranes, and the third box carries 3000 message cards and tanzaku. The satellite was built by Kato Seisakujyo, a metal processing company in Sumida, Tokyo.
In 2020 the company contracted SpaceX to send Magokoro to orbit. One factor that led to SpaceX's selection was that the rocket upper stages launched by SpaceX are being monitored continuously until they reenter Earth's atmosphere. By attaching Magokoro to the upper stage, the risk of it becoming space debris can be avoided. Originally scheduled to be launched in December 2021, Magokoro was launched to space on 1 April 2022. According to Space NTK, Magokoro will reenter Earth's atmosphere five to six years after launch and burn up as shooting stars.
See also
References
- ^ Yoshikawa, Mitsuko (June 18, 2021). "｢宇宙葬｣を亡き娘にプレゼントした夫婦の心情". Toyo Keizai (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-05-17.
- "世界初!宇宙葬を実現させた葛西さんのルーツを辿る" (in Japanese). Waccel. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
- ^ "想いを「宇宙」（そら）へ！ご遺骨・メッセージカードを載せた人工衛星「MAGOKORO号」第一弾打ち上げ成功!!4月2日（土）深夜1時24分に米国ケープカナベラル空軍基地（フロリダ）より発射!" (Press release). Space NTK. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ "Tsukuba venture offers space burial service". The Japan News. May 7, 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
- ^ "遺骨だけ納めた人工衛星を打ち上げ! 「宇宙葬」を日本のベンチャーが4月に実施…感動で涙する遺族も". Fuji News Network (in Japanese). April 29, 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
- ^ Bekkuya, Chihiro (November 27, 2021). "故人の思いを乗せて、宇宙へ――。ベンチャー企業SPACE NTKが手がける日本初の宇宙葬". J-CAST News (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-05-17.
- ^ Okuno, Aya (June 18, 2021). "宇宙葬 遺骨打ち上げ 最後は「流れ星」に… 12月にも第1弾". The Tokyo Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-05-17.
- ^ Aizawa, Fuyuki (November 7, 2021). "来年4月、初の衛星打ち上げ つくばの宇宙葬ベンチャー". News Tsukuba (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-05-17.