Dramatic aftermath of 5,400mph SpaceX Moon crash revealed for very first time

The Falcon Nine is a reusable rocket designed so that certain sections return to Earth while others are discarded in space.

SpaceX has deployed this rocket type across numerous missions.

The brief, intense flash produced by the impact would have been nearly impossible for amateur astronomers to see, even with powerful telescopes.

The empty upper stage that struck the Moon was roughly the size of a five-storey building.

It weighed approximately four tonnes on Earth.

The Korean AeroSpace Administration shared before-and-after images of the Moon's surface after the smash

KASA

Scientists had predicted it would slam into the lunar surface at around 5,400mph.

The Falcon Nine launched from Florida in January 2025, carrying two lunar landers as its payload.

Its task was to propel the upper stage with enough force to send both landers beyond Earth's orbit and towards the Moon.

Once that job was complete, the spent stage was left to drift through space in a long, looping trajectory that carried it out towards the Moon and back.

Over the following 18 months, subtle gravitational pulls from the Earth, Moon and Sun slowly altered its path.

Debris from a Falcon Nine rocket (pictured launching here last January) hit the Moon yesterday morning

REUTERS

Kasa astronomers were able to spot the impact traces of the rocket yesterday

KASA

Solar radiation also gave the drifting rocket stage a gentle push.

Astronomers who had been tracking the debris eventually calculated that these tiny forces had steered it directly towards the Moon.

Its speed was increasing with each passing day.

The collision occurred during daytime hours across much of the globe.

However, the flash it generated was far too faint for anyone to detect, even with a telescope.

The flash the impact generated was far too faint for anyone to detect, even with a telescope - but Kasa was able to spot it first

KASA

Larger observatories, including South Korea's space agency, are now studying the data gathered from the event.

Cambridge astronomer Dr Matt Bothwell raised concerns about the growing problem of orbital debris.

"Space is getting more and more crowded," he said, as each year "we launch more stuff into space".

"It could feasibly be within a few decades that it's actually quite hard to get past Earth's orbit because space is so crowded," Dr Bothwell warned.

Meanwhile, the booster section from the same January 2025 mission is preparing for its 18th flight on August 10.

SpaceX has said that launch aims to deliver 29 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.