'We Considered Him Our Star': Why A PA Family Is Sending Late Son's Ashes Into Space

GLENMOORE, PA — In November 2023, the Diaz family from Glenmoore, Chester County suffered an unimaginable loss. Phillip Alexander Diaz died tragically in a crash at just 16 years old.

"He had plans the next day," his mother Aymee Comas-Diaz told Patch. "He gave me his Christmas list the day before. It shattered our world."

Phillip loved to travel and Comas-Diaz said she expected her son to write the story of his life given his creative leanings.

"When this happened, I couldn't allow his story just to end," she said. "He was too great for that."

And this fall, roughly two years after his untimely death, the Diaz family will see Phillip's remains launched into lower earth orbit.

Comas-Diaz said she found Celestis Inc. through a grieving parents' Facebook group. Celestis is a private memorial spaceflight company that specializes in sending remains into space.

"This process was something to keep his story going." she said. "As a family, we set it as our goal to keep his light always shining."

Come the fall, Phillip will be among the stars.

The family will travel to Cape Canaveral for a three-day event that culminates in a launch.

Charles Chafer, Co-Founder and CEO of Celestis, said you'd be hard-pressed to find a memorial service as rapturous as a Celestis launch. "It's very fulfilling," Chafer told Patch. "In many cases, we're fulfilling a lifelong dream of wanting to travel to space."

Comas-Diaz said Phillip wanted to see the world and that Celestis, which has completed 23 missions, is the best way to help him achieve his dream, even posthumously.

"Not many people get the chance to do this," she said.

The process of having a loved one's remains launched into space through Celestis is rather simple, according to both Chafer and Comas-Diaz.

"They're a great team to work with," she said. "I researched the company, got some information, and selected the option where he's in orbit for five years. They walked me through the process and then sent us packaging for his ashes."

Chafer said early in Celestis's history, which began in the mid 90s after Chafer was part of the nation's first private spaceflight company in Washington DC, he realized his company isn't just about space launches.

"When I founded the company, I thought, 'we will just be flying objects into space,'" he said. "But I learned we're a grief counseling company more than an aerospace company."

Celestis counselors walk families through the entire process, all the way through the launch. Launches are the culmination of a three-day series of events.

On day one, clients fly in to Florida, some from all around the world, Chafer said. That same night, clients attend a dinner and reception hosted by an astronaut who talks about space travel.

On the second day, clients tour the launch facility, and sometimes get to see the rocket ahead of the launch. Then that afternoon, Celestis hosts a non-sectarian memorial service that is also available to view via livestream.

Then comes launch day. Clients are bussed to a private viewing site where they get to see the launch live in person.

"We have anywhere from 150 to 600 guests per launch," Chafer said. "It's great to see them meet each other, build some friendships, and share this. They find things in common and share loved one's stories.

"The end of the grief cycle we occupy is the celebration and healing," he said.

In Phillip's case, he will be in orbit for five years, and after those five years the canister his remains will be in will reenter the Earth's atmosphere and incinerate as it comes back down.

"It's like a shooting star," Chafer said.

And the Diaz family will be able to keep tabs on Phillips using the live satellite tracker on the Celestis website.

"We considered him our star," Comas-Diaz said. "It just seemed fitting."

And the spaceflight is not the only way Phillip is being memorialized.

The family started the Phillip Diaz Bright Star Foundation after his death.

"We started a foundation in his memory where we spread kindness," Comas-Diaz said. "This was part of continuing his legacy of being a star, not for us, but for people around the world."

While deep in the throes of mourning, Comas-Diaz said she wanted to help brighten someone's day.

"I started leaving little stars around town, Phil’s Stars, for people to find," she said. "I posted about it online, and people got on board."

Now, she said Phil's Stars have been left in all 50 states and 30 countries, and many of them were left by people the Diaz family has never even met.

"This keeps me going every day," she said. "This loss was so great, I was so lost, and this is what I have to do to keep going every day. His dad and his sister, too, that’s our goal, to brighten people's days in his memory."

Additionally, the family has begun providing worry stones — smooth, polished gemstones, usually in the shape of an oval with a thumb-sized indentation, used for relaxation or anxiety relief — to provide comfort to those in distress.

They're available at Downingtown East High School, where Phillip attended, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and via local mental health organization, she said. Comas-Diaz said they're also providing them to universities and colleges across the country.

And Comas-Diaz has written a children's book in Phillip's memory. Titled "Phil's Bright Star," the book focuses on how simple acts of kindness can brighten someone’s world.