Elon Musk-run SpaceX is now accepting the new cryptocurrency Dogecoin to launch an upcoming satellite named DOGE-1 to the Moon. The DOGE-1 is a CubeSat to acquire “lunar-spatial intelligence” using onboard cameras and sensors, reports The Verge. Geometric Energy Corporation is developing the satellite, and it will be flown onboard a Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of 2022.
Launch in the first quarter of 2022
SpaceX will launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” in the first quarter of next year, with Elon Musk’s commercial rocket company accepting the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin as payment. “SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the Moon next year – Mission paid for in Doge – 1st crypto in space – 1st meme in space. To the mooooonnn!!,” Musk tweeted on May 9, 2021.
SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year
– Mission paid for in Doge
– 1st crypto in space
– 1st meme in spaceTo the mooooonnn!!https://t.co/xXfjGZVeUW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2021
However, a tweet from Elon Musk saying that his SpaceX company would accept Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) to fund a lunar mission next year failed to spur the price of the cryptocurrency on Monday. Dogecoin, which had been rallying last week as internet users tried to push the coin’s value to $1 (£0.70), was lower on the day, down 1.1% to $0.53.
The Tesla (TSLA) owner said that the satellite, Doge-1, would be the first-ever crypto in space and the “first meme in space”. Dogecoin lost more than a third of its price on May 9th, after Musk called it a ‘hustle’ during his guest-host spot on the “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch TV show.
Elon Musk’s tweets this year turned the once-obscure digital currency, which started as a social media joke or a meme, into a speculator’s dream. On crypto data tracker CoinGecko.com, dogecoin has jumped more than 800% over the last month and is now the fourth-largest digital currency, with a market capitalization of $73 billion.
Cryptocurrency out in the space
In a statement on May 9th, Geometric Energy Corporation also announced about “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon.” The Canadian company is partnering with SpaceX to send a 40 kg satellite to the moon on a Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of 2022.
“Having officially transacted with DOGE for a deal of this magnitude, Geometric Energy Corporation and SpaceX have solidified DOGE as a unit of account for lunar business in the space sector,” Samuel Reid, Geometric Energy’s chief executive, said in a statement.
“This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce”, SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero was quoted as saying in the statement released by Geometric Energy.
Electric carmaker Tesla Inc., where Musk is CEO, said in February it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment for its electric cars, a large stride toward mainstream acceptance that sent Bitcoin soaring to a record high of nearly $62,000.
