A segment of a rocket launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX has collided with the Moon at a speed of approximately 5,400mph, which is about seven times faster than the speed of sound.
The component from the Falcon 9 upper stage was comparable in size to a five-story building and had a weight on Earth of around 4,000kg.
Experts have confirmed that the rocket has now impacted the Moon, with telescopes in the Americas set to verify the crash shortly.
This rocket, which was part of a joint US-Japanese mission initiated by SpaceX in January 2025, carried two lunar landers to the Moon before being abandoned.
Following the collision, it is anticipated that dust and debris from the impact will rise several miles above the Moon’s surface, potentially visible through Earth-based telescopes.
Astronomer Bill Gray remarked on the event, expressing hopes of observing a flash or rocks ejected from the crater resulting from the impact.
Observers in the eastern US, Canada, and much of South America are likely to have the best vantage points to witness the impact flash from the crash.
This marks the second spacecraft to crash into the Moon, with a Chinese rocket segment creating two craters on the Moon’s far side in 2022.
Benjamin Fernando from Los Alamos National Laboratory highlighted the interest in this event to assess the threat posed by debris impacts to future astronauts. Fernando anticipates that the impact will generate a 90ft wide and 16ft deep crater, visible to spacecraft.
While astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell downplayed concerns about this specific impact, he emphasized the potential risks associated with similar incidents, especially in a future where there are long-term Moon bases, stressing the importance of not leaving rocket stages in chaotic orbits.
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