UK man sends pet dog's ashes 119,000 feet into space in emotional tribute

A British dog owner has found an extraordinary way to say goodbye to his beloved pet, sending its ashes nearly 120,000 feet into the sky in a tribute that combined grief, adventure and a bit of ingenuity.

Oscar, a six-year-old French bulldog, died suddenly earlier this year after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. To honour his memory, his owner Jacob Battersby, 26, from Stockport, teamed up with his friend Callum King, 26, from Rugby, to send Oscar's ashes to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere using a helium-filled weather balloon, the New York Post reported.

A Final Journey To The Edge Of Space

Alongside the ashes, the payload carried Oscar's favourite Toy Story alien plush toy and a pet GPS tracker. The tribute launch took place on May 7, 2026, from Rugby, Warwickshire, with the balloon lifting off at 2:24 pm.

As it climbed higher, the balloon eventually reached altitudes where temperatures plunged to as low as -72 degrees Celsius (-97.6 degrees Fahrenheit), before bursting near the edge of the atmosphere at around 119,000 feet — scattering Oscar's ashes into the sky. The payload then descended by parachute, eventually landing roughly 55 miles away in Nottinghamshire.

Speaking about the tribute, Callum said, "Oscar couldn't see the world, so we decided to show the world Oscar." He explained that Jacob's loss had come as a shock. "Jacob lost Oscar at the start of the year and it came completely out of the blue. He had a brain tumor and it happened so quickly," he said, adding that including Oscar's ashes in the launch was never in question. "When we started planning the launch, taking his ashes up there wasn't really a question. It was just how we were going to do it. It felt like one last adventure for him."

A Nerve-Wracking Wait — Then A Pub Miracle

The duo had anticipated the flight would last about two hours, but as the balloon remained airborne well past that window, they began to fear the package was lost for good. Having given up the search, they headed to a nearby pub — only for the GPS tracker to suddenly ping with a location later that evening, allowing them to recover the payload from a field.

"We thought we'd lost it. We'd gone to the pub because there was nothing else we could do. Then suddenly the GPS tracker pinged with a location," Callum recalled. "We drove straight there and ended up walking through fields until we found the payload. It was an amazing feeling."

A Tribute That Doubled As A Tech Test

The launch wasn't purely sentimental — it also served as a real-world trial for a GPS tracker developed by Jacob and Callum's company, Zoomi, which builds GPS and health trackers for pets and had launched just a month earlier. The successful recovery proved the device worked exactly as intended.

Jacob and Callum first met at the Insomnia Gaming Festival back in 2016, long before founding Zoomi together. Callum revealed he'd attempted a similar weather balloon project years earlier during his school days but never managed to recover the payload. "It always stayed with me because we'd got all this incredible footage but never knew where it had ended up," he said, adding that finally pulling off a full launch-and-recovery mission felt deeply satisfying.

He also spoke about the technical planning involved: "There's actually a surprising amount of math involved. We had to calculate the amount of helium, predict where it would travel and build the payload ourselves."

"A Little Part Of Him Is Still Up There"

Reflecting on why they chose to share Oscar's story publicly, Callum said, "We never did this for money or publicity. We just wanted to give Oscar one last adventure and create a lasting memory." He also revealed that Jacob's other French bulldog, Toby, has recently been diagnosed with cancer, adding a poignant weight to the tribute. "It really reminds you how precious every moment with your pets is," he said.

For Jacob, the gesture holds deep personal meaning. "It's really special. They say after about six months, his ashes will eventually return to Earth as rain. I really like the idea that a little part of him is still up there," he said. He added that he now finds comfort in looking to the sky. "People always look up at the sky when they're thinking about loved ones they've lost. And mine is actually up there. And when I go away with Toby, I like to think that Oscar can see us."

Jacob, who works as a content creator, said he now hopes to give Toby the adventures he never got to share with Oscar, including an upcoming trip in September. "We're going away in September hopefully, and she loved the Dolomites. We'd love to take her paragliding, it's probably the closest she'll ever get to space, and to Oscar," he said.