Now you can send a letter to space for just R40

The Chinese postal service is allowing citizens to write letters that will be sent to space, at a cost of about $3 (R43).

According to the Global Times, the service was recently launched by the China Space Administration and China Post.

Those keen can buy a special letter kit which includes a space letterhead, postage-paid envelope and two postcards with space images.

And you do not need to worry about an address as the envelope is addressed to “the space post office”.

The letter can be dropped off at any post office and will then be scanned and sent to the Chinese space station.

The US space agency has a service where children can have an astronaut pen pal. Aspiring spacemen and women can pick an astronaut “pal” on the NASA website, asking for advice or an autograph.

In 2012, astronaut Don Pettit decided the International Space Station’s address should be: Node 2, Deck 5, ISS, LEO 51.603.

Pettit detailed the inspiration behind the address in a blog post.

“My sleep station, a coffinsized box, is located in the fifth deck space of Node 2. From an Earth-based perspective, I pop out of my sleep station as if I were coming out of the floor.

“I am thus situated on the International Space Station [ISS] in Low Earth Orbit [LEO] with an orbital inclination of 51.6 degrees [the angle of our orbit plane to the equator] and an average altitude of 400km

“51.603 would be the space zip code. The first three digits of the space zip code [516] refer to the orbital inclination.

“The last two digits [03] are a designator for your particular space station.” —