A company in California says it can send an object of your choosing into space and back for $99, as early as 2008.

There are restrictions, of course. The cargo must fit into a canister the size of a soda can and weigh no more than 350 grams. It cannot be radioactive or explosive. And if it goes up alive, it must return alive (and well).

"We'll launch anything, as long as it's legal," says Michael Mealling, of Masten Space Systems in Santa Clara, US. That means some of grandma's ashes could make the trip to space, or a child's science fair project.

So-called CanSats have been flying for years on smaller rockets as part of high school engineering and science projects. But so far, those rockets have only made trips to near space.

Masten Space Systems is developing a rocket that could carry about 300 CanSats at once. The XA (eXtreme Altitude) 1.0 suborbital rocket will take off vertically, fly to at least 100 kilometres above Earth where its contents will be exposed to microgravity for several minutes before returning to the launch site in a vertical landing. The contents can be exposed to the vacuum of space or can remain pressurised throughout the mission, depending on customer desires. See an animation of a mission in action, here.

"Bake sale" prices

The company aims to be able to prepare the rocket for another flight within hours of landing. "We're trying really hard to get into the same realm of operations that airplanes enjoy," Mealling says.

The company advertises "Space science at a 'bake sale' price", although the $99 per can is an introductory offer and will later rise to $199. And larger 5-kilogram (11-pound) canisters can be reserved for $1250.

After the novelty of sending random objects into space wears off, Mealling believes educational projects like telescopes, biology experiments or Earth-imaging missions will be the CanSats' main cargo.

Masten Space Systems intends to launch its first commercial flight in the spring of 2008 with the first test vehicle launching in May 2006. In the past few months, they have been conducting test firings of their rocket engine. Watch a video of the liquid oxygen and isopropyl alcohol rocket engine producing almost 2200 newtons (500 lb) of thrust over a 43-second burn.

If the 6.7-metre-tall rocket does not fly by 30 July 2008, or if a payload is rejected for safety reasons, Masten promises to refund customers' money.

Masten is also competing in NASA's $2.5 million Lunar Lander Challenge at this October's X Prize Cup in New Mexico, US. Competing vehicles must take off vertically, climb to over 45 metres (150 feet), hover for at least 3 minutes and land 180 metres (600 feet) away to refuel. They must then repeat the course in reverse.

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