NASA to observe SpaceX rocket stage hitting Moon August 5

A spent Falcon 9 upper stage will strike the Moon on August 5, 2026, near the Einstein and Bell craters. NASA and SpaceX are tracking the object; the impact poses no threat to Earth.

The stage was launched on January 15, 2025, when a Falcon 9 rocket sent Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander toward the Moon under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Solar activity and gravitational forces later pushed the derelict hardware onto a lunar collision course.

Independent astronomers first spotted the trajectory using publicly available data. NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory then confirmed a 100 percent chance of impact. The agency will use the event to refine its tracking methods and gather lunar data.

Because the Moon lacks an atmosphere, it absorbs frequent meteoroid hits. This collision should carve a crater roughly 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep, flinging dust and rock outward. A meteoroid with equivalent energy strikes the Moon about every six days, so such forces are routine. Analyzing the ejecta plume will reveal details about lunar geology and improve models for future exploration.

The impact will not be visible to the naked eye. NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office at Marshall Space Flight Center will attempt to observe it with ground-based telescopes, though weather and lighting may interfere. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea’s Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, which carries the ShadowCam instrument, will seek before-and-after images of the site. Imagery may take days to arrive, depending on orbital timing and lighting.

Although this impact was unplanned, intentionally disposing of upper stages on the Moon is an accepted, safe practice and sometimes the only option for missions in low lunar orbit. Controlled impacts provide predictable end-of-life outcomes. NASA underscored its commitment to debris mitigation and responsible disposal to protect Earth, its orbital environment, and other planetary bodies.