Dogecoin funded SpaceX ‘Doge-1’ Moon mission gets a step closer to launch

A planned moon mission funded by Dogecoin (DOGE) took a step closer to launch following a key regulatory approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which forms a precursor to the final Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license.

The DOGE-1 satellite is being developed by space technology firm Geometric Energy Corporation, which announced the project in May 2021. The satellite will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

“The National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved DOGE-1 X-Band (0083-EX-CN-2022 on http://ntia.doc.gov),” confirmed Samuel Reid, CEO of Geometric Energy Corporation, in an X post. “We have yet to get the FCC license grant which will address X-Band and S-Band.”

A miniature screen on the DOGE-1 satellite will display advertisements, images and logos, which will subsequently be broadcast to the Earth. DOGE-1 was the first satellite launch to be paid for its entirety in DOGE tokens.

The launch of DOGE-1 was first announced by SpaceX founder Elon Musk in 2021 as a rideshare abroad a collaborative rocket launch between Intuitive Machines and NASA, the U.S. space program.

However, that has been repeatedly postponed by Intuitive Machines' launch provider SpaceX, which in turn postponed DOGE-1’s planned launch from 2022 to the now-targeted January 2024.

DOGE-1 is one of the two dogecoin-related missions planned in the coming months.

Earlier this month, Dogecoin developers said a physical dogecoin token could reach Earth’s moon in a space payload mission planned by Pittsburg-based firm Astrobotic. The mission is currently planned for December 23 and carries 21 payloads (cargo) from governments, companies, universities, and NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.