SpaceX Model Rocket
This easter egg is found on the Tempest.
In Ryder’s cabin on the Tempest, players can find a model labeled “SpaceX Rocket Model” which is an exact replica of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, the rocket that’s set to become the most powerful in the world.
In addition to being a cool decoration, players are also able to examine the rocket which brings up further information on it in the Codex.
After the historic NASA Apollo moon landings in 1969, the drive for crewed space exploration slowed as government funding dried up. The move towards cheaper unmanned probes and orbital stations gained traction instead, as one of the central obstacles was the expense of creating first-stage booster rockets that would be lost after each flight.
But the lure of sending people into the cosmos never lost its draw. In the early 21st century, a private company called SpaceX pioneered efforts in sustainable space travel by developing a reusable launch system. It revolutionized the field as the first entity, government or private, to successfully launch and then safely recover an orbital booster rocket intact, allowing it to be reused in future launches. Reusable hardware placed lower-cost, sustainable space travel within reach.
Galvanized by SpaceX’s achievements, a renaissance in space exploration followed. Reusable launch system technology later became pivotal in establishing the European Space Agency’s first permanent settlement on Mars, Lowell City, in 2103.
In late 2014 Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX was asked by a fan on Twitter if he’d ever played any of the Mass Effect games. Elon then followed up with a response stating he had not only played the games, but considered Mass Effect 2 to be one of the “best games ever”.
Then, a little over a year later Ray Muzyka, the co-founder of BioWare (creators of Mass Effect) stumbled upon the tweet and thanked Elon for the compliment while promising to pass the praise on to the BioWare development team. This is believed to be the reason for such a detailed easter egg in SpaceX’s favor.