A discarded upper stage from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched in January 2025, is on a collision course with the Moon and expected to impact at Mach 7 in August. Astronomer Bill Gray confirmed the trajectory using tracking data, identifying the object as the rocket body from the mission that carried Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and ispace’s Hakuto-R landers to the lunar vicinity. While the landers completed their objectives—Blue Ghost successfully landing and Hakuto-R crashing—the upper stage was left in a drifting orbit and has since been uncontrolled.

This event underscores a growing concern in the space community: the accumulation of space debris. As NASA and commercial companies plan more frequent lunar missions, including future lunar bases, untracked or abandoned rocket stages pose increasing risks to spacecraft and surface operations. The U.S. Space Force and agencies like NASA already monitor orbital debris, but tracking will need to expand beyond Earth orbit as human activity moves deeper into space.

This isn’t the first accidental lunar impact. A Chinese Chang'e-5 T1 rocket stage hit the Moon in 2022 under similar circumstances. With SpaceX and others launching more frequently, experts warn that without better disposal protocols, such events could become routine. While this impact poses no danger to Earth, it highlights the need for international standards on post-mission disposal in cislunar space.