According to a report by Nihon Keizai Shimbun on August 5, the wreckage of a Falcon 9 rocket previously launched by the U.S. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is expected to impact the Moon on the same day. This wreckage came from the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket launched in January 2025, which carried lunar landers from Japan's iSpace company and the U.S. Firefly Aerospace company. The rocket wreckage, approximately 12 meters long and weighing about 4 tons, has remained in space after completing its mission to deliver the probes to the Moon. It is predicted that the impact will create a man-made crater with a diameter of about 27 meters, which will be the largest man-made crater to date. This impact will help explore the lunar environment and formulate corresponding safety measures before manned lunar landings and large-scale construction of lunar bases.
