SpaceX rocket debris crashes onto moon

A four-ton remnant of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has crashed onto the moon, according to scientists at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The ESO confirmed the impact using its Very Large Telescope (VLT), detecting spectral lines consistent with the expected event.

The rocket stage had been in orbit since launching two lunar landers in January 2025. While the rocket's booster returned to Earth, the upper stage remained in space. SpaceX director Julianna Scheiman had previously stated that a combination of solar activity and gravity caused the piece to deviate from its calculated trajectory, leading it unintentionally toward the moon.

The U.S. space agency NASA and South Korea's space agency had announced plans to photograph the impact site with their probes. However, it could take several days for these images to be transmitted, and official confirmation from these agencies is still pending.

Data on potential collisions with space debris is crucial for NASA's future plans to establish a lunar base. While meteorites regularly strike the moon, impacts involving rocket parts or other space debris are infrequent. The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that over 46,000 pieces of space debris, weighing approximately 17,000 tons, currently orbit Earth.

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a mixture of solar activity and gravity