On Wednesday, August 6, 2026, part of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had been in orbit since January 2025 collided with the Moon. The rocket, which launched from Florida carrying two lunar landers, left a spent upper stage drifting in a looping orbit between the Earth and the Moon.

Over 18 months, gravitational forces from the Earth, Moon, and Sun, along with solar radiation pressure, gradually nudged the rocket debris onto a collision course with the lunar surface. The impact occurred in broad daylight for many parts of the world but produced a flash too faint to be seen even through telescopes.

South Korea’s lunar orbiter captured images of the Moon both before and after the impact, providing valuable data on the event. Meanwhile, the same Falcon 9 booster from the January 2025 mission is scheduled for its 18th flight on August 10, 2026, aiming to launch 29 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, according to SpaceX.

Sources