SpaceX has announced to launch a Moon mission, which will be entirely funded by the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. The announcement comes right after SpaceX founder Elon Musk joked on the popular show Saturday Night Live about his contribution to viral memes about cryptocurrency.
Geometric Energy Corp. will also be sharing the ride aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which usually takes a $63 million booking amount. This sum translated to cryptocurrency will be around 129 million Dogecoin (as per current value). How much crypto or money will be required is yet unknown, as well as, no information about other missions that will fly on the rocket has been revealed.
It wasn’t a joke
Musk took to Twitter to announce the deal, saying this marks as the first time that cryptocurrency will be used in space. The mission is set to take off in the first quarter of 2022. It was first tweeted as a joke on April Fool’s Day, but it seems he wasn’t joking.
With the mission, SpaceX will send 40 kg CubeSat that will be called Doge-1, to gain “lunar-spatial intelligence … with integrated communications and computational systems,” reads Geometric press release. The payload will include sensors and cameras; however, the complete details are still under wraps.
Dogecoin is the future of payments
The deal “solidified DOGE as a unit of account for lunar business in the space sector,” said Samuel Reid, Geometric CEO in the release. The firm has also pledged to transact all future missions in Dogecoin, as it is secure and the trade can happen outside business hours.
SpaceX recently also set a new record by sending the Falcon 9 rocket booster on its 10th flight. This is an amazing feat solidifying rocket reusability. It took off with a first-stage booster that was used during the first demonstration of the Crew Dragon capsule.
Completing 10 flights using one booster is significant as SpaceX has been promoting booster reuse since its inception. It allows the company to bring down the cost of rocket launches marginally. The company has also been awarded NASA’s $2.9 billion contract to build a Moon lander.
