Dogecoin and its supporters had a rough weekend as the price failed to reach the $1 level, contrary to the expectations based on Elon Musk’s SNL appearance. He did appear on the show and even talked about the cryptocurrency, but it was rather underwhelming, leading to selloffs that pushed the price back down to sub $0.45 before some recovery. However, there might be more redemption courtesy of the Dogefather himself thanks to his company SpaceX’s planned mission which will be named “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon.”

Yes, that’s right. Dogecoin now has a chance to literary go to the moon, which means it also has an even higher chance of going to the moon figuratively. SpaceX’s Doge 1 Mission to the Moon will carry a 40 KG satellite as the payload, which will be ferried by a Falcon 9 rocket. The company also revealed that it will accept Dogecoin as payment to fund the mission in 2022.

“DOGE-1 will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth’s orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce. We’re excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon!” stated Tom Ochinero, the VP of commercial sales at SpaceX.

SpaceX did not disclose how much the mission will cost, but space missions are not cheap, which means that if it is funded by Dogecoin, some major transactions are coming up. Those transactions might be the boost that Dogecoin needs to surpass the elusive $1 level and potentially higher. The Dogefather confirmed the mission through a tweet.

Dogecoin’s price analysis

Dogecoin is currently trading at $0.51 with the price below the 7-day moving average and just above the 25-day moving average, indicating that the bears still have some strength despite the bullish upside. It is normal considering that there was a lot of panic selling in the last three days, which reflected as the pullback that sent the price down to around $0.42. This level is interesting because it is the same price level at which Dogecoin seems to have been experiencing resistance between April 16 and April 20. The price seems to have found support and bounced back at the same level this past weekend.

The volume indicator still shows significantly low volume at around 4.18 billion Dogecoins. The announcement about the Doge-1 mission may contribute to significantly higher trading volumes, especially now that there is a major transaction involved.

Ochinero described the mission and the partnership between SpaceX and Geometric Energy Corporation as the foundation of interplanetary commerce. He believes that the transaction between the two companies might secure Dogecoin’s status as an accounting unit for moon-based missions.

The SpaceX executive’s statement points towards more real-world uses for Dogecoin. It would provide a strong basis for more adoption and acceptance of the cryptocurrency, which is an interesting turn of events considering that Dogecoin started off as a meme cryptocurrency. In the meantime, the Doge-1 to the Moon mission is Elon Musk’s gift to the Dogecoin community and one that could lead to more price speculation.