SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket crashes on Moon

NASA, the US space agency, has announced that the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket crashed into the Moon’s surface.. The impact occurred at 12:05 PM IST. The Falcon 9 rocket was launched on January 15, 2025, carrying two commercial robotic lunar landers. After completing its mission, the rocket’s first stage successfully returned to Earth, while the second stage was left in space to drift. According to scientists, the impact created a crater measuring approximately 20 to 30 metres in diameter on the lunar surface. Researchers said the rare event, an artificial object striking the Moon, provided valuable scientific data, offering new insights into the Moon’s surface and helping improve planning for future lunar exploration missions.

SpaceX rocket crashes into Moon, carving 100‑foot crater

A Falcon 9 stage slammed into the lunar surface at seven times the speed of sound, releasing energy equivalent to three tons of TNT

Still, the crater is too small to see from Earth with the naked eye pic.twitter.com/ZRxFO8ETIh

— RT (@RT_com) August 5, 2026

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with NASA and Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander. The Blue Ghost went on to become the first commercially built lunar vehicle to land on the moon, and the reusable lower stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 landed back on Earth. But the discarded upper stage of the Falcon 9 spent 18 months drifting in space before slamming into the surface of the moon at approximately 2:35 a.m. ET on Wednesday.