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An Out-of-Control SpaceX Rocket May Have Struck the Moon with the Force of Three Tons of TNT—Here’s What We Know
A portion of an out-of-control SpaceX rocket is believed to have collided with the Moon on Wednesday, producing a new impact crater.
The roughly 8,800-pound rocket stage is suspected of striking the lunar surface at around 2:35 a.m. EDT, with a force comparable to three tons of TNT, according to experts. The new impact crater and resulting cloud of lunar dust could help scientists glean new insights into how impacts have shaped the Moon’s surface over time.
As of 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday, observations have yet to confirm whether the collision occurred, although it was suggested that a faint flash of light might be visible in the suspected region, located near Einstein Crater, using Earth-based telescopes. No obvious signs of the crash were reported by amateur astronomers.
Additional imagery may have been obtained from any of the several ground-based observatories in the United States that were monitoring for signs of an impact, although analysis of any imagery collected this morning could take several days.
Imagery obtained by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is expected to capture images of the newly formed crater in the days ahead.
How Did a SpaceX Rocket Stage Collide with the Moon?
The rocket stage originated from a Falcon 9 launch in 2025, which carried a pair of lunar landers toward the Moon.
One was Blue Ghost, a lunar lander developed by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative under the Artemis program. Blue Ghost shared its ride with Japanese company Ispace’s Resilience lunar lander, with each mission aiming to promote a future sustainable lunar economy and provide transportation services for government and private-sector customers.
While most SpaceX rocket upper stages burn up in Earth’s atmosphere during reentry, or are deposited in the ocean following their launches, the stage from the Falcon 9 launch in question remained in space after its fuel was expended, since the lunar mission necessitated additional velocity to escape Earth’s orbit.
Despite these conditions, SpaceX had not intended for one of its rocket stages to collide with the Moon. It was revealed earlier this year that the combined influence of gravitational forces and solar activity was anticipated to alter the spacecraft’s trajectory enough to place it on a collision course with Earth’s natural satellite.
Having exhausted its propellant during its primary mission, the rocket stage had no way to perform course adjustments to prevent the collision.
“It’s very infrequent to have things like the Falcon 9 second stage crash into the moon,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during a live segment on Fox News. “It’s not a big deal right now. The moon has clearly seen better days,” Isaacman added.
No Risk to Earth, and Insights May Be Beneficial
Fortunately, NASA officials have confirmed there is no danger posed to Earth from this morning’s collision. Additionally, the impact could offer some benefits by providing scientists with a unique opportunity to observe a new crater’s formation, which may shed light on how such events have shaped the lunar surface over time.
Specifically, the fact that this impact was predicted well enough in advance to potentially allow for imagery to be obtained during or shortly after the new crater was formed, could provide rare insights into the dynamics of how craters on the Moon develop.
Additional information from the impact plume produced as lunar regolith is ejected from the impact site could offer valuable data for space agencies like NASA, which are currently preparing for a sustained human presence on the Moon.
Space Debris is Still a Concern
Although the impact this morning was largely benign, this incident does underscore the growing challenge of managing space debris.
Abandoned rocket hardware and other debris from space missions can pose long-term risks. While remaining in orbit, such materials can damage operational satellites or other spacecraft. Once they make their way back into Earth’s atmosphere, these leftovers from past space missions can sometimes survive reentry, even though they are designed to disintegrate when subjected to such conditions.
In recent years, a growing number of components associated with SpaceX rockets have survived reentry and collided with Earth. In May 2024, The Debrief was the first to report that an object discovered on a stretch of property in the Western North Carolina mountains was likely space debris from a SpaceX launch, which NASA officials later confirmed.
More recently, a series of unusual metallic spheres were discovered by residents of a beachside community in Australia, which were also confirmed to have been materials associated with a SpaceX launch.
Fortunately, no injuries or damage to property have been reported following these events.
As lunar orbiters begin returning images of the impact site, scientists hope the unexpected crash will provide a valuable new dataset for understanding one of the Solar System’s most heavily cratered worlds.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
