A piece of SpaceX rocket hardware, which launched a pair of lunar landers in January 2025, has collided with the moon after drifting off course for over a year, scientists reported Wednesday.
While the collision itself was not directly observed, a telescope in Chile detected a debris plume consistent with an impact. Space tracking experts stated that the defunct rocket segment’s collision with the moon was inevitable.
This incident marks the latest addition to lunar litter, a growing concern as nations increase their lunar exploration efforts. In 2022, a Chinese rocket unintentionally impacted the moon, and scientists believe numerous other stray rocket pieces may have struck the lunar surface in previous decades without detection.
Julianna Scheiman of SpaceX stated that the company is collaborating with NASA to prevent similar future events, emphasizing that this impact was accidental. She explained that a combination of solar activity and gravitational forces inadvertently set the rocket on a collision course with the moon.
Carl Schmidt, from Boston University, expressed 100% certainty that observations from his team revealed evidence of the lunar crash. The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope recorded a stream of sodium and lithium extending for miles into space for approximately five to 10 minutes following the impact, he noted.
Retired astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell had previously observed that the 4-ton upper stage was heading directly for the moon. He anticipated the impact site to be a barren area near Einstein Crater on the moon's western limb, a region that is challenging to observe from Earth.
"There’s no doubt in my mind" that the rocket is now fragmented and scattered across the moon near Einstein Crater, McDowell told The Associated Press. "As a physicist, I know that what goes up must come down."
Visual confirmation of the impact crater is expected to come from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is scheduled to fly over the crash site next week. The Falcon rocket's upper stage was over 40 feet long and hoisted two private lunar landers, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience, from Cape Canaveral. While the Resilience lander was lost, the Blue Ghost lander successfully landed, marking a first for a private spacecraft.
The moon is increasingly becoming a focal point for space exploration, with NASA planning for numerous robotic missions to establish a sustainable lunar base. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are slated to provide lunar landers for NASA's Artemis astronauts. Elon Musk's Starship is progressing through test flights, while Jeff Bezos' Blue Moon lander has yet to launch. Astronauts are tentatively expected to land on the moon as early as 2028.
"Things are going to get a lot busier near the moon," McDowell commented. "At that point an impact like this on the lunar surface plowing up huge amounts of dust going for hundreds of miles around is not going to be acceptable."