Canada-based logistics and manufacturing company Geometric Energy Corporation will launch a Dogecoin-funded payload on one of SpaceX’s first rockets to the moon. In a May 9 announcement from Geometric Energy Corporation, the firm stated its commercial satellite might be traveling to the moon as early as Q1 2022 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.
Weighing 40 kilograms, nearly 88 pounds, the payload is designed to acquire “lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board with integrated communications and computational systems.”
Geometric Energy CEO Samuel Reid stated:
“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.”
The VP of Commercial Sales for SpaceX, Tom Ochinero, added:
“This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.”
Neither SpaceX nor Geometric Energy specified how Dogecoin (DOGE) was used to fund this endeavor. This cost might refer in part to the development of the payload or include the funding to send it to the moon.
Past lunar missions have had considerable price tags. The last vehicle to perform a soft landing on the moon’s surface in 2019, the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program’s Chang’e 4, cost around 1.2 billion yuan, or nearly $172 million at the time, to put a 1,200-kg lander with a 140-kg rover to the lunar body.
One satellite launched to orbit the moon in 2013, NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, carried a payload mass of 49.6 kg at a cost of nearly $280M, including research and development; $5.6 million per kg, not accounting for this mass at launch.
If Geometric Energy’s satellite incurs these costs, though SpaceX’s design is probably more efficient 8 years down the road, the firm might need to have paid nearly $225.8 million for a 40 kg payload. That amount translates to over 388 million DOGE at the time of writing representing 0.3% of the circulating supply of 129.5 billion DOGE tokens.
Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder, has often hinted, maybe jokingly, on Twitter that DOGE will be the first crypto to ‘literally’ reach the moon. Musk’s social media activity has probably been responsible for many surges for the token that has gained over 800% in the past 30 days to reach $0.55 at the time of writing.
