NASA has confirmed the location of a lunar impact caused by a discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage. The rocket, which launched in January 2025 to deliver commercial landers, was left in a high-Earth orbit after stabilization efforts failed. The vessel eventually drifted into a collision course with the Moon.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured imagery of the resulting impact site between August 11 and 12, 2026. Because the Moon rotates beneath the orbit of the spacecraft, engineers had to wait for the specific impact coordinates to move into the view of the LRO cameras. This required precise timing, as a delay of even 10 seconds would have shifted the camera’s view by 16 kilometers.
Analysis of the data reveals a crater measuring 18 meters wide and less than 3 meters deep. Scientists identified the impact site by observing bright material excavated from beneath the lunar surface, contrasted against darker surface dust that has been altered by solar radiation. The crater also displays rays of debris that stretch outward, similar to patterns seen in historical lunar impacts.
Finding the site was a collaborative operation involving NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, independent astronomers, and the team operating the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also known as Danuri. The project served as a practical test for trajectory prediction tools. The final calculations were highly accurate, placing the predicted impact site within one kilometer of the actual crater.
This event provides researchers with data on how man-made materials interact with the lunar surface. The study of the crater characteristics and the surrounding debris field continues to offer insight into lunar geology and the effects of high-velocity collisions in space.