SpaceX rocket stage crashes into moon after 19-month drift
A 4-tonne SpaceX rocket stage launched in January 2025 struck the moon at 5,400 mph, creating a crater and prompting orbital surveys for imagery.
Updated last month5 new reports, including ABC News (AU), Washington Times, Wired and 2 more.
The short version
A section of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched in January 2025 crashed into the moon on August 5. The 4-tonne upper stage struck at 5,400 mph, leaving a crater estimated at 100 feet wide and 16 feet deep.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stage launched in January 2025 struck the moon on August 5, 2026.2,6 The rocket stage weighed approximately 4 tonnes (8,800 pounds).2,5 The impact occurred at approximately 2:35 a.m. EDT on August 5.6
The stage struck the moon at 5,400 mph (7 times the speed of sound).6,2 Scientists expected the collision to create a crater about 100 feet wide and 16 feet deep.1,4 NASA and other agencies were verifying the impact using orbital data.2
No direct images of the impact were captured at the time of collision.7 South Korea’s Danuri lunar orbiter later photographed the crash site.8,12,11 China’s newly launched satellite also recorded footage of the impact.9
The impact posed no danger to Earth, according to reports.5 Scientists planned to analyze the crater to study lunar surface properties.6 This was not the first human-made object to strike the moon.10
Previous lunar impacts included spent rocket stages and mission hardware.10 The SpaceX rocket stage had been drifting in space since its January 2025 launch.2,6 The event followed SpaceX’s debut earnings report showing $7.8 billion in quarterly revenue.3
Why it matters
The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed by SpaceX for orbital and interplanetary missions, with the upper stage typically discarded after payload deployment.2,6
The moon’s surface is covered with craters from past impacts, including those from natural meteoroids and human-made objects like rocket stages.10
Lunar orbiters such as South Korea’s Danuri and China’s new satellite are used to monitor the moon’s surface and track space debris.8,9,11
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This account was written from the 12 reports listed below, filed by 10 independent outlets, and checked against them line by line. It is not a copy of any one of them. Spotted an error? Tell us.
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