Tuesdays launch, piggybacked with a primary payload consisting of satellites built by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute and NASA, will jettison the 2-pound (1.2-kilogram) canister containing the capsules into low-Earth orbit.

The Taurus is set launch during a 12-minute window that opens at 2:12 a.m. EST on Tuesday, a Vandenberg Air Force Base spokesman said.

(Space.com will be carrying live coverage of the launch beginning Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 2 a.m. EST. For those viewers using Windows' Media Player, click here; for those equipped with Real Player, click here.)

Christopher Pancheri, a Celestis spokesman, said the canister could remain on orbit for anywhere from 100 to 1,000 years before re-entering and burning up in the atmosphere.

Each capsule contains just 0.245 ounces (7 grams) of cremated remains and bears a personalized message.

"Be Among the Stars You Liked," reads one. "Have a Great Flight, Dad," is another.

Families pay about $5,000 for the privilege of sending their loved ones into orbit.

Many of the deceased shared a deep interest in space, said Chan Tysor, Celestis president.

"This is a way of symbolically fulfilling their dream of space flight," Tysor said.

Ruby Coddington said before her son, Brian, died of muscular dystrophy in January 1998, he exacted a promise that a portion of his remains would be sent into orbit.

"Being that he was sent to us from heaven, its only fitting hes only going to go back up that way," Coddington said Monday.

The 23-year-old Barstow, Calif. man was a devoted Star Trek fan whose cousin is NASA astronaut Donald McMonagle, his mother said.

Among the 35 other people whose remains are included in the flight are those of a dozen Japanese citizens. Tysor said his companys services seem popular with residents of the island nation, where cremation - a requirement for participation - is far more common than it is in the United States.