The First Space Wedding
On June 25, 2013, NASA astronauts Yuri Malenchenko and Ekaterina Dmitrieva tied the knot in a “space wedding.” They tied the knot via satellite video link while Yuri was on the International Space Station. Although only one half of the couple was in space, the impact of this first space wedding was still felt decades later. In April 2014, the ISS reemerged into daylight and the newlyweds returned to earth to celebrate their nuptials.
The ceremony took place 100 kilometers above Earth’s surface. While the average commercial air plane cruises at around 33,000-42,000 feet, the space balloons can fly eight people to an altitude of 100,000 feet. The couples can have a wedding service in outer space or watch a live broadcast of the event. Both Yuri and Ekaterina are U.S. citizens, and the wedding will be broadcast in both English and Russian.
The couple and their guests will pay $5,400 per person to take part in this unique experience. The price of the event is expected to rise, with each guest paying a portion of the bill. The bride will wear a specially designed microgravity dress by designer Chris Ploof and the groom will wear a custom-made tuxedo designed for the space environment. The groom will wear a custom-made frock coat and tails from J.Lucas Clothiers.
The Russian space program sent a tourist into space. Another country’s space program has sent a man into space – Yuri Malenchenko, 41, the commander of the International Space Station. The U.S. space agency has a hotline for telemarried couples to exchange their vows while in space. However, the U.S. space program has not yet launched a space wedding, though it plans to do so in the future.
In the United States, space-themed weddings have become increasingly popular, and are a growing part of pop culture. In many cases, a space-themed wedding is a celebration of life and love. In Russia, an orbital wedding symbolizes a couple’s union. While space-based weddings aren’t legal in the United States, the couple has already made arrangements for a religious ceremony. The ceremony will take place at a high altitude of about 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
The first space wedding will take place in 2011, according to Flight Advantage. Yuri Malenchenko is a real-life astronaut and will be singing “I do” on the video conference monitor. They will have 60 minutes to hold their ceremony while he and Ekaterina are 402 kilometers above New Zealand. While this may seem like an unlikely setting for a wedding, the space-wedding experience is an incredibly unique and memorable event.
The cost of a space wedding will vary between US and Russian citizens. In the UK, a space-wedding will cost from PS18,000 to PS32,000, depending on the location. The cost of a traditional wedding will range from a museum to a historic property, but it will most likely add up to a substantial portion of your overall budget. In some cases, a wedding can cost up to $55 million.