SpaceX Falcon 9 Upper Stage Crashes on Moon at 8,700 km/h, Creating New Crater

The upper stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket crashed onto the lunar surface on Wednesday morning, approximately one and a half years after launching two private lunar landers. Scientists estimate the impact occurred at 9:35 AM Israel time, with the rocket stage striking the Moon at about 8,700 kilometers per hour and likely forming a new crater near the illuminated lunar edge. The 12-meter-long, 4,500-kilogram rocket segment's collision was equivalent to an explosion of roughly three tons of TNT.

SpaceX clarified that the crash was unintentional, caused by the upper stage deviating from its trajectory due to gravitational influences and solar activity. NASA is awaiting final confirmation from telescope observations to verify the impact, as no lunar orbiters were positioned to capture the collision in real time. Researchers plan to compare before-and-after lunar images to identify the new impact site.

The Falcon 9 stage was launched on January 15, 2025, during a mission that sent two private landers to the Moon. One lander, Blue Ghost by Firefly Aerospace, successfully completed the first fully private lunar landing, while the other, from Japanese company ispace, crashed. Experts believe the impact flash was too faint to be seen from Earth, but the debris cloud may have risen several kilometers above the surface, visible to telescopes for minutes.

This incident marks only the second known accidental rocket stage crash on the Moon, following a similar event in 2022 involving a Chinese rocket part that created two craters on the lunar far side. Other lunar crashes have involved landers such as Russia's Luna 25, India's Chandrayaan-2, and Israel's Beresheet. NASA and SpaceX are now exploring ways to prevent such unintended impacts amid plans for sustained lunar infrastructure and crewed missions under the Artemis program.