A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket upper stage has crashed into the Moon, roughly four months after astronomers first predicted the collision would occur. Scientists confirmed the impact indirectly, as it happened on the sunlit side of the Moon where glare made direct observation impossible; researchers instead detected a plume of sodium and lithium gas via a telescope in Chile. The event highlights growing concerns about space debris, though experts and NASA maintain that disposing of spent rocket stages on the lunar surface remains a technically accepted practice.

The four-tonne rocket stage struck the Moon at around 5,400mph, and NASA estimates it left a crater roughly 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep — comparable in force to routine meteoroid impacts the lunar surface regularly absorbs. The stage originated from the January 2025 Blue Ghost mission, which carried two lunar landers; SpaceX explained that because nearly all the vehicle's fuel was needed to reach lunar transfer orbit, a controlled return to Earth wasn't possible, and the rocket was ultimately pulled towards the Moon by solar activity and gravity. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter are now attempting to photograph the crash site, though success depends on lighting and timing and could take several days.