Los Angeles, Jan. 30 (AFP): As President George W. Bush promises to expand the frontiers of space exploration, a US firm has offered to deposit business cards or even the ashes of loved ones on the moon.

The private California-based firm, Transorbital, plans to charge $2,500 for its lunar delivery service that it hopes to kick off in the last quarter of this year when it launches commercial flights to the moon.

Transorbital, which says it is the only private company to be allowed by US authorities to operate commercial flights to the moon, plans to dump a small cargo of artefacts on the moon’s surface with a robotic probe. “Delivered to the moon surface in a special capsule will be your certificates, business cards, cremated remains, jewelry, artwork and many other items of choice,” it said on its website.

The company’s president Dennis Laurie was quoted by the website space.com as saying that “thousands of people” had paid to have their mementos or dead relatives deposited on the lunar surface.

Dispatching a business card to the moon costs $2,500, while other items can fly into outer space for $2,500 per gram. A text message sent to the craft costs a modest $17 to deliver.