A discarded SpaceX rocket stage is set to hit the moon in August

The spent upper stage from a January 2025 launch is expected to strike near Einstein crater at about 8,700 km/h

Mario Tama / Getty Images

A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is on course to crash into the moon on Aug. 5, 2026, according to Bill Gray, an independent astronomer and developer of the Project Pluto orbital tracking software.

Gray estimates the impact will happen around 06:44 UTC, close to Einstein crater, which sits between the near and far sides of the moon. At that moment, the stage should be traveling at about 8,700 kilometers per hour, or roughly seven times the speed of sound.

The rocket stage, catalogued as 2025-010D, is the upper half of the Falcon 9 that launched on Jan. 15, 2025, carrying two moon landers: Firefly........

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