SpaceX Falcon 9 Upper Stage Crashes into Moon, Creating Crater and Plume
At 2:35 a.m. ET on August 5, 2026, the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX collided with the Moon. Images of the impact area, revealing a dark spot, were obtained by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute's Danuri orbiter. The ejected plume was found to contain sodium and lithium gas, as noted by the European Southern Observatory. Weighing 8,800 pounds, the rocket stage had previously been utilized in a January 2025 launch for lunar landers from Firefly Aerospace and ispace. NASA's Julianna Scheiman indicated that solar activity caused it to veer off course. This event follows a 2022 incident involving a Chinese rocket part, heightening worries about space debris and potential lunar damage.
Key facts
- The Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the Moon on August 5, 2026, at 2:35 a.m. ET.
- The impact was not observed in real time.
- KARI's Danuri orbiter captured before-and-after images showing a new dark spot.
- The Very Large Telescope detected sodium and lithium in the plume.
- The rocket stage weighed about 8,800 pounds and was the size of a five-story building.
- It was used in a January 2025 launch for Firefly Aerospace and ispace landers.
- The crash was predicted by Bill Gray almost a year in advance.
- A similar accidental crash occurred in 2022 with a Chinese booster.
- The debris scattered near Einstein Crater.
- Concerns raised about space junk and potential damage to lunar sites.
- Jonathan McDowell noted that future impacts would be unacceptable as lunar activity increases.
Entities
Artists
- Jonathan McDowell
- Julianna Scheiman
- Bill Gray
- Hannah Sargeant
- Jose Maria Madiedo
- Benjamin Fernando
Institutions
- SpaceX
- Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)
- European Southern Observatory (ESO)
- Very Large Telescope
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
- Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian
- NASA
- Firefly Aerospace
- ispace
- University of Leicester
- New Scientist
- Associated Press
- New York Times
- Agence France-Presse
- Time
- Space.com
- Project Pluto
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- ABC News
- CNBC
Locations
- Moon
- Chile
- Spain
- Einstein Crater
- Earth
- Texas
- Tokyo
- China
- Einstein crater
- United States
- Canada
- South America
- South Korea