--- title: "SpaceX Fans Annoyed That Starship Orbital Launch Won’t Involve a Weed Joke" description: "Bad news, weed nerds — it looks like SpaceX's maiden voyage won't have a \"420\" joke after all." date: "2022-03-23" modified: "2022-03-23" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/starship-420-not-happening" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Fans Annoyed That Starship Orbital Launch Won’t Involve a Weed Joke ![Bad news, weed nerds — it looks like SpaceX's maiden voyage won't have a "420" joke after all.]() *\Image: SpaceX/Futurism\* ## Blaze It Bad news, weed nerds — it looks like SpaceX's maiden Starship voyage won't involve a "420" joke after all. In his typical reply guy fashion, SpaceX CEO [Elon Musk told a fan]() this week that SpaceX's first-ever orbital launch wouldn't involve the [company's Booster 4]() and [Ship 20]() — a pair of vessels which, combined, would have formed [the infamous weed number](). Musk's preoccupation with the number 420 goes way back. Back in September 2021, for instance, [one eagle-eyed spaceflight fan]() noticed that two Raptor engines next to each on the underside of a Starship prototype other were numbered RB4 and RB20. Though [Musk claimed it was a "total coincidence"]() that they were parked next to each other like that, [SpaceX fans hoped]() that this Easter egg meant that the first Starship flight take the weed number out into space. And that's without getting into Musk's infamous spat with the SEC after he tweeted that he was [taking Tesla private at $420 per share](). As with all things Musk, though, sometimes the expectation doesn't line up with reality. Here are some of the best memes about the great Starship disappointment. ## Okay Fair ![]() *Image via u/Jrcraft\_\_/Reddit.* Points were made. ## Galaxy Brain ![]() *Image via u/Jrcraft\_\_/Reddit.* Megamind is big sad. ## Cry More https://twitter.com/Cargo_Starship/status/1506088719245201409 He gave them something to cry about. ## Gone But Not Forgotten https://twitter.com/aft_flaps/status/1505377923762728964 An apt commemoration if we ever saw one. **More Elon weed number news:** *[Elon Musk Gets Probed]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()