SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Stage to Crash into Moon at 5,400 mph
An upper stage of a spent SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is headed for a collision with the moon, anticipated to occur on August 5, 2025, at 2:34 a.m. ET, near the Einstein crater, traveling at approximately 5,400 mph. This stage was launched on January 15, 2025, carrying the Blue Ghost lander from Firefly Aerospace and the Resilience lander from ispace. This event marks the second recorded uncontrolled rocket impact on the moon, following a Chinese booster that formed twin craters in 2022. The rocket stage measures 40 feet in height and weighs 10,000 pounds. The resulting impact will create a crater roughly 90 feet wide and 16 feet deep. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea's Danuri will capture images of the site before and after the event.
Key facts
- SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage to hit moon on Aug. 5 at 2:34 a.m. ET
- Impact speed: approximately 5,400 mph (seven times speed of sound)
- Strike near Einstein crater on the moon's western limb
- Only second documented uncontrolled rocket crash into the moon; first was Chinese booster in 2022
- Rocket launched Jan. 15, 2025, carrying Blue Ghost and Resilience landers
- Blue Ghost landed March 2, 2025; Resilience crashed after losing communications
- Expected crater: 90 feet diameter, 16 feet deep; energy equivalent to 3 tons of TNT
- NASA's LRO and South Korea's Danuri to photograph site before and after impact
Entities
Artists
- Bill Gray
- Benjamin Fernando
- Jonathan McDowell
Institutions
- SpaceX
- Project Pluto
- Firefly Aerospace
- ispace
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- NASA
- ABC News
- CNBC
Locations
- Moon
- Einstein crater
- United States
- Canada
- South America
- South Korea