SpaceX's rocket upper stage will crash into the Moon due to a change in trajectory
On Wednesday, August 5, the upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is expected to impact the Moon’s surface. According to scientists’ predictions, the impact will occur around 09:35 Kyiv time and will create a crater approximately 27 meters in diameter.
This is the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that, in January 2025, launched two lunar landers into space—Blue Ghost from the American company Firefly Aerospace and Resilience from the Japanese company ispace. After completing its mission, the stage remained in a high Earth orbit because it ran out of fuel and could not be brought back into Earth’s atmosphere.
According to a study published on the arXiv preprint server, SpaceX attempted to keep the upper stage in a stable orbit. However, solar activity and the Moon’s gravitational pull altered its flight path, causing it to crash into the surface of Earth’s natural satellite.
The collision is expected to occur on the sunlit side of the Moon. At the same time, only astronomers using powerful telescopes will likely be able to observe the moment of impact.
Scientists believe this event will help better assess the risks that space debris may pose to future lunar missions. In particular, this is important in light of NASA’s plans to establish a permanent base on the Moon as part of the Artemis program. According to the researchers, SpaceX and NASA are already working on ways to minimize the risk of rocket stages crashing onto the Moon’s surface in the future.
This is not the first time a rocket has crashed onto the Moon. During the Apollo program, NASA intentionally directed the third stages of Saturn V rockets toward the Moon’s surface. In addition, in 2022, a new crater formed on the Moon after the upper stage of the Chinese “Changzheng-3C” rocket—which had been in orbit since 2014—crashed there.
This was reported by Space.
As a reminder, SpaceX successfully completed the 13th test flight of its super-heavy Starship rocket. During the mission, the spacecraft deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites into orbit for the first time and performed a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX shares have been falling for the sixth consecutive day following the cancellation of the Starship launch.
NASA is testing the new X-59 flying machine, which promises silent supersonic flight.
