Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that SpaceX would launch the "DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon" in the first quarter of 2022. The company will accept meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin as full payment for the lunar payload. "SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year – Mission paid for in Doge – 1st crypto in space – 1st meme in space", Musk said in a tweet.

SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero noted that DOGE-1 "will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce." In the long term, this will "set the foundation for interplanetary commerce", Ochinero said. "SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon," Musk wrote.

DOGE-1 will fly on a Falcon 9 rocket, the satellite owned by the Canadian company Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) in the first quarter of 2022. As part of the DOGE-1 mission, a payload "will obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board with integrated communications and computational systems."

Dogecoin has soared dramatically amid such news. Last week, from May 3 to May 8, it reached a high of $0.69. Earlier, the price of the token rose to a record high of $0.73 but later fell by 30%. It declined when Musk hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live during which he admitted Dogecoin was "a hustle".