By
Svetlana Soroka
April 26th, 2024
The latest development appears to show that SpaceX is keen on setting the tone for what looks like “interplanetary commerce”.
SpaceX has made a bold statement with its latest decision to accept Dogecoin (DOGE) as payment for rescheduling the highly anticipated DOGE-1 moon mission. This was revealed in a statement by Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) CEO Samuel Reid, the brain behind the mission initiative.
This move undoubtedly reinforces the idea that cryptocurrency may have taken up an important role in not just the space industry alone, but across the board.
Recall that the DOGE-1 mission was originally slated to launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket back in 2022. However, the launch never came to be due to some technical issues at the time.
The satellite was reportedly not ready in time for the Intuitive Machines IM-1 launch. Hence, the reason for the postponement.
Wary of the prolonged delay, Reid noted that GEC has now paid SpaceX in DOGE to reschedule the mission. Additionally, the new deal also includes a rebooking which places the DOGE-1 satellite on an open manifest. This approach simply implies that the door is now open for other potential launch dates after the IM-1 launch.
Optimism Surrounds DOGE-1 Moon Mission
Reid has emphasized that there is no reason to think that the mission to the moon is being canceled. He suggested that the delay has been more about incomplete requirements rather than a lack of commitment or incapability.
To reassure enthusiasts, GEC has confirmed that the DOGE-1 mission is very much alive and in continuity.
For what it is worth, the latest development appears to show that SpaceX is keen on setting the tone for what looks like “interplanetary commerce”. That is a transaction between planetary bodies.
Back in 2021, when it first announced the DOGE-1 moon mission, SpaceX revealed that the mission was fully paid for using the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin. That alone was a major move to showcase the application of cryptocurrency even beyond the borders of the Earth.
With the latest move, however, there is no doubt that SpaceX is fixated on establishing its footprint as the pioneer of interplanetary commerce.
It might be worth mentioning that SpaceX’s efforts to take crypto beyond the Earth have not gone without some setbacks. Coinspeaker reported in June 2022 that an American citizen filed a $258 billion lawsuit against Elon Musk, Tesla, and SpaceX for running a Dogecoin pyramid scheme. That was after the individual lost a sizeable amount from trading DOGE.