This website will document the life and times of Mark M. Hopkins and his colleagues, friends, and family’s commitment to see that he makes it to deep space and his legacy endures.
Dear Colleagues, Friends, and Family of Mark M. Hopkins:
Mark was a dear friend, colleague, and profoundly opinionated ideator dedicated to envisioning and enabling the space movement. His presence will be missed, but the spirit of his life’s work will endure. Space is our future!
In celebration of his life and recognition of his unfailing commitment to space advocacy, special arrangements were made to include cremains from Mark on the Celestis Inc. Enterprise Space Memorial Flight, on board the first launch of the United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket on January 8, 2024, at 2:18 am EST. For those who were unable to attend in person you can watch the videos of the Celestis Enterprise memorial program.
- Mark Hopkins euology (Unedited, clip)
- Combined Enterprise and Tranquility Service (edited)
- Enterprise Service (unedited)
- Tranquility Service (unedited)
Gary Barnhard, Vanessa Williams, Charley Chafer, and multiple other friends and colleagues of Mark attended the launch in person, viewing the launch from a special VIP viewing area
This fundraising effort had the full approval and support of Mark’s family, friends, and colleagues. The normal cost of the flight was Twelve Thousand Nine Hundred ninety-five dollars ($12,995) per participant, which was raised through cash and in-kind contributions from twenty-four individuals. Special thanks to a generous in-kind donation from the President of Celestis that made this opportunity possible in an expedited timeframe.
The Space Development Foundation Inc (SDF-Inc) established a Non-Profit organization account with PayPal to accept donations at this website https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=9HUB2D4C8XWK2 Since the launch has been paid in full any additional funds received will be invested in projects to further space development.
The Celestis Enterprise Flight ™ launched from planet Earth and is traveling beyond the Earth-Moon system, beyond the James Webb telescope, and into interplanetary deep space – where it will join the other planets, moons, comets, and asteroids in our solar system on a never-ending journey through the cosmos.
On completion of its powered burn and coast phase, the Enterprise Flight became Enterprise Station™ – the most distant permanent human repository outpost and a pathfinder for the continuing human exploration of space.
The Enterprise Flight, carrying specially manufactured and inscribed individual flight capsules containing cremated remains, complete human genome individual DNA samples, and names and messages of well-wishers from around the globe, will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Aboard Enterprise, fittingly, will be the creator and several cast members of the original Star Trek television series, as well as an Apollo-era astronaut, together with people from all walks of life, interests, and vocations. Enterprise is a once-in-a-lifetime, exclusive opportunity for our loved ones to join an incredible mission of purpose alongside the most recognizable personas in space exploration, real or imagined.
The Launch Experience is a comprehensive package that includes a three-day event hosted by Celestis. It features mission briefings, an astronaut-hosted dinner, tours of the launch site, a poignant on-site memorial service, and, of course, a front-row seat to the launch. Participants are responsible for their travel, lodging, and incidental costs. Please note that Celestis provides these services to the best of our abilities, as launch schedules and site security are beyond our control. We maintain close communication with all attendees to keep them fully informed of the launch status.
When possible, events are webcast, and updates are available on this website and all social media platforms. Visit https://www.celestis.com/launch-schedule/enterprise-flight/ for more information.
Mark Hopkins Eulogy at Celestis Enterprise Flight Memorial Service
My name is Gary Pearce Barnhard. I stand before you in various capacities, including serving as the President of the Space Development Foundation, the Director of Strategic Relationships for the National Space Society, and representative of the Hopkins family. All the involved organizations and Mark’s family wish to convey their profound thanks to Charley Chafer and Celestis, Inc. for the opportunity to recognize the role of Mark Hopkins in the evolution of the space movement by participation in the Enterprise Mission.
I have known Mark since the late 1970s through our work with the L-5 Society, the Space Studies Institute, and the National Space Society (NSS). In NSS, he served as the Senior Operating Officer when I was the NSS Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and I worked for him when he was the NSS CEO and I was the NSS Executive Director. I spoke with Mark so often that my wife and daughters considered him part of our extended family.
Mark was a dear friend, colleague, and profoundly opinionated ideator dedicated to envisioning and enabling the space movement.
In celebration of his life and recognition of his unfailing commitment to space advocacy, his friends, colleagues, and family lent their support to the Space Development Foundation’s campaign to include Mark’s cremains on the Celestis Inc. Enterprise Space Memorial Flight.
Mark Hopkins earned a BS in economics from the California Institute of Technology, an MA in economics from Harvard University, and was a former Rand Corporation economist. He has written numerous publications concerning space economics and was responsible for most of the early economic studies of space settlements, including the economic study in the NASA publication SP-413 Space Settlements: A Design Study.
During the late sixties and early seventies, Hopkins studied social movements and realized the need for a movement that supported the space program. He later coined the term “Space Movement,” which is widely used today. His history of involvement has been so extensive that he has even been called the “Father of the Space Movement.”
He became formally active in 1972 when he co-founded and later served as President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Committee for a Space Economy, dedicated to the goal of the large-scale economic development of space. In 1975, Hopkins strongly encouraged the founding of the L-5 Society as a nucleus of a new social movement and joined the L-5 Board of Directors at the Society’s first election. Hopkins first proposed the concept of the National Space Society (NSS) and was one of the two chief negotiators that created the merger of the L-5 Society and the National Space Institute to create the National Space Society in 1987. He has served continuously as an Officer and/or Member of the Board of Directors of L-5 and NSS for over thirty years (24 of those years as an Officer). Mark Hopkins was Chief Executive Officer Emeritus for the National Space Society (NSS) until his passing in May 2023.
Mark built and led the political efforts of L-5 and NSS for 18 years through 1997. He founded Spacecause and Spacepac and served as President of Spacecause for ten years and Chairman of Spacepac for 16 years. He played a significant role in the successful effort to defeat the anti-private-enterprise Moon Treaty. Mark was particularly concerned with developing an optimal strategy for the Space Movement and the question, “What is the best way to drive humanity into space?”
The question of why space is of no small measure.
- In these challenging times, the importance of our investment in providing for the future, including space exploration and development, is not to be underestimated.
- It serves as a foundation for hope.
- It serves as an affirmation that we are a resilient society that will not be deterred from lending our efforts to forging a brighter tomorrow
Mark is survived by his wife Miriam, daughter Michaela, her husband Steven Jacks, and son Martin and wife Carin Bagguley.
Mark will be greatly missed by his beloved grandsons: Jude, Wade, Reece, Quinn Hopkins, and Dylan and Camden Jacks.
Mark’s absence leaves a void in many of our lives, but the spirit of his life’s work will endure.
Space is our future!
Information on SDF-Inc can be found on our website https://www.spacedevelopmentfoundation.org
Thank you very much for your donation to help make this possible. If you have any questions concerning this effort, please get in touch with me via email at gary.barnhard@spacedevelopmentfoundation.org
Ad Astra,
Gary P. Barnhard
President & CEO
Space Development Foundation Inc.