Overview
- Early Wednesday morning on Aug. 5, 2026 a spent Falcon 9 second stage struck the Moon near the Einstein and Bell craters, as predicted by orbital analysts and confirmed by NASA’s CNEOS.
- The object was a roughly 4–4.5 tonne Falcon 9 upper stage launched in January 2025 that hit at about 5,400 mph, expected to produce a crater on the order of tens of metres across.
- Ground-based observers and amateur telescopes generally reported no clear visible flash, so confirmation and measurements now depend on before-and-after imagery being collected by lunar orbiters such as LRO and South Korea’s Danuri/ShadowCam.
- SpaceX said it followed applicable disposal rules and that solar radiation pressure and complex Earth–Moon gravity perturbations changed the stage’s orbit, and NASA called the strike a research opportunity that poses no danger to Earth.
- Scientists and policymakers say the incident exposes gaps in cislunar debris management and tracking and will prompt further imaging analysis, improved tracking efforts, and renewed discussions about binding disposal and traffic-management rules.