A SpaceX upper stage that launched two lunar landers in early 2025 is now expected to collide with the moon after completing its mission. The discarded rocket segment is projected to strike the lunar surface at about 5,400 mph, turning an otherwise uncontrolled piece of hardware into a closely watched impact event.
According to the report, scientists plan to monitor the crash using orbiters from NASA and South Korea. The observation effort is aimed at tracking what happens when the rocket stage hits, including the effects on the surface and the material thrown up by the impact.
The event has drawn attention because of both its speed and its estimated force, described as comparable to about 3 tons of TNT. While spent rocket hardware has ended up on the moon before, this case stands out because researchers appear ready to follow the collision in real time from lunar orbit.
If the tracking works as planned, the crash could provide useful data on how the moon’s surface responds to a sudden, high-velocity strike. Even though the object was not sent there as part of a deliberate experiment, the impact may still offer a rare chance to study lunar geology and crater formation from a known incoming object.
