SpaceX rocket crashes into moon at 8700 kilometres per hour
SMRTR summary
A discarded SpaceX rocket booster slammed into the moon this morning at 8,700 kilometers per hour, near Einstein crater, in what scientists are calling an accidental and reckless collision.
The upper stage of a Falcon 9, launched in January 2025, ended up adrift in space after its heavy payload required extra thrust, leaving it without enough fuel to deorbit safely. It eventually drifted into a collision course with the moon.
NASA estimates the impact carved out a crater roughly 18 meters wide and 4 meters deep. Telescopes worldwide captured the moment, and lunar orbiters from South Korea and the US are observing the site.
"It is not a good thing to be randomly sending debris into the moon," says Hannah Sargeant of the University of Leicester. Unlike NASA and ESA, commercial space companies aren't required to plan for safe disposal of their spacecraft, though efforts to change that are underway.
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