Rocket debris from a SpaceX launch, led by Elon Musk, has collided with the Moon at a speed of approximately 5,400mph, which is seven times faster than the speed of sound.

The segment that crashed into the Moon was a component of the Falcon 9 upper stage, measuring similar to a five-story building and weighing around 4,000kg on Earth.

Scientists confirm that the rocket has made contact with the Moon, and telescopes in the Americas are poised to observe and verify the impact shortly.

Part of an abandoned spacecraft involved in a joint US-Japanese mission in January 2025, conducted by SpaceX, contributed to the event, transporting two lunar landers to the Moon.

Anticipated fallout from the collision includes dust and debris rising several miles above the Moon’s surface, potentially observable through Earth-based telescopes.

Astronomer Bill Gray expressed expectations of potential observations of flashes or ejected rocks resulting from the crash.

Observers in the eastern US, Canada, and parts of South America are likely to have the best vantage point to witness the impact flash from the crash.

This marks the second instance of a spacecraft crashing into the Moon, following a Chinese rocket segment that formed two craters on the Moon’s far side in 2022.

Benjamin Fernando from Los Alamos National Laboratory highlighted the interest in assessing the impact to evaluate the risk of future debris encounters for astronauts.

Fernando predicts that the impact will result in a crater approximately 90ft wide and 16ft deep, visible to spacecraft but not from Earth.

Although astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell downplays immediate concerns about this specific impact, he emphasizes the potential risks of similar events, especially in a future scenario where long-term Moon bases exist, advocating for better management of rocket stages to avoid such incidents.

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