Falcon 9 Upper Stage Hits Moon After Lunar Transfer

A four-ton Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon early on August 5, creating a crater roughly 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The stage had launched on January 15, 2025, as part of the Blue Ghost mission that delivered two lunar landers. SpaceX stated that higher-energy lunar transfers leave little fuel margin for a controlled Earth reentry, so the stage followed a path shaped by solar activity and lunar gravity.

Independent astronomer Bill Grey had forecast the impact months earlier. Planetary scientist Carl Schmidt reported that Chile’s Very Large Telescope detected a sodium-lithium gas plume tens of kilometers across that lasted five to ten minutes. Observers on Earth could not see the strike directly because it occurred on the sunlit lunar face. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea’s Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter are scheduled to image the site once lighting permits.

NASA described disposal of upper stages on the lunar surface as a technically accepted practice when no other option exists. SpaceX noted that most missions allow ocean reentry, but lunar trajectories often preclude that maneuver. The event coincides with heightened scrutiny of SpaceX’s public valuation above $2 trillion and its first post-IPO quarterly results, which showed revenue nearly doubling to $7.8 billion while net losses reached $143 million for the quarter. Analysts have questioned whether rapid spending on related ventures justifies the share price, yet the crash itself produced no reported damage to active spacecraft or lunar infrastructure.