The Canadian-born actor, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the beloved science-fiction series, died of Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia in July 2005. He was 85.

Doohan had requested in his will that a portion of his ashes be launched into orbit.

The actor's remains were among those of 208 people who had paid to have their ashes sent into space aboard Falcon 1 by SpaceX, a company that offers a space burial service, the BBC said.

However, the rocket carrying the ashes malfunctioned minutes after take-off from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the British broadcaster said.

SpaceX's engineers are still investigating the cause of the launch failure, which resulted in the loss of the people's ashes.

The BBC said this is the second time an attempt to send Doohan's remains into space has failed.