Images released of crater created by SpaceX rocket impact on Moon

South Korea's Aerospace Administration announced that its Danuri orbiter recorded the impact of a Falcon 9 upper stage on the Moon, releasing before-and-after images that show a dent in the lunar surface. The collision occurred at about 06:35 GMT on Wednesday, after the rocket segment had drifted in space for more than a year.

Officials said the impact delivered energy equivalent to three tons of TNT and struck the surface at roughly 5,400 mph, seven times the speed of sound. The event was expected to be visible from Earth, but amateur astronomers reported only a brief flash and could not discern a visible mark.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which was positioned to observe the site, is slated to release its own photographs of the crater.

The impacted component was the empty upper stage that had guided two lunar landers launched in January of the previous year. The lower booster re-entered Earth's atmosphere, while the upper stage, about the size of a five-storey building and weighing around 4,000 kg on Earth, remained in orbit before its trajectory was altered.

"A mixture of solar activity and gravity forces put the rocket part on a path to the Moon," SpaceX spokesperson Julianna Scheiman said.

The crash posed no threat to Earth, though scientists noted ongoing concerns about the accumulation of space debris in Earth's atmosphere.