We all have dreamed of getting married in a picturesque locale overlooking a serene lake or a lush green forest. Destination weddings have become a common affair as they offer a great escape from the regular routine of work and household chores. But this company is taking it a step further and offering couples the opportunity to get hitched in space.
While it may sound out of the ordinary, getting married in space is not an impossible task as a couple can be flown up to the edge of our atmosphere in a capsule. This service is offered by a company called Space Perspective and the cost for this unique experience is Rs 1 crore per person.
According to the company’s website, the Neptune flight will take passengers up to 100,000 feet above Earth in a carbon-neutral balloon with enormous windows so they can enjoy the ultimate view of our beautiful planet. The flight can accommodate eight passengers and a pilot in comfortable reclining seats.
The Neptune flight is expected to begin operations in 2024. The company claims it has already sold 1,000 tickets for the trip, which is reportedly one of the most expensive ways to get married in the world. However, if the price doesn’t put a dent in your bank balance, there is also an option for you to tie the knot at the International Space Station.
In 2003, Yuri Malenchenko, an accomplished astronaut and cosmonaut who made five space flights and spent more than two years in orbit, married his American wife Ekaterina Dmitrieva over satellite video link. The ceremony was held at NASA headquarters in Houston, while he was at the International Space Station. The pair walked down the aisle to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” as the station reemerged into sunlight, NBC reported at the time.
Although Russian officials tried to convince Malenchenko to postpone the ceremony until he returned to Earth, he refused to do so because it would jeopardize his mission. He had already been assigned to the ISS and his time there was due to expire soon. In 2019, the consequences of his space wedding caught up with him when he was denied a promotion because of it, NBC reports.
Yuri Malenchenko, an accomplished Russian astronaut and cosmonaut, has spent more than two years in space and has made multiple trips into the Orion crew module. He has even performed a number of spacewalks. He is an alumnus of Biosphere 2, a closed ecological system that is renowned for its experiments in sustainable living.
A US-based company, Space Perspective, has been offering this out-of-this-world service for a few years now. Their website claims that they have already sold over 1,000 tickets for their Neptune flights. The company says its Neptune spacecraft has the largest windows ever flown into space and is made of hyper-resistant material with a special anti-UV coating. They have an online booking portal that allows couples to choose their seats and reserve the date of their flight.