WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Moon has filed a formal litter complaint against SpaceX following Tuesday’s impact of a discarded Falcon 9 upper stage near Einstein Crater, according to a filing submitted to the International Astronomical Union on behalf of the celestial body by attorney Richard Voss.
The four-tonne stage, which had been drifting in space since January 2025, struck the lunar surface at roughly 5,400 miles per hour, ejecting an estimated one million kilograms of debris and, according to the complaint, “significantly diminishing the Moon’s previously pristine aesthetic.”
“My client did not consent to this,” Voss said, standing beside a large printed photo of the crater. “You cannot simply hurl a four-tonne piece of used equipment at a celestial body that has done nothing but stabilize Earth’s tides and inspire poetry for four billion years and call it ‘space debris management.’ That’s littering. On a planetary scale.”
SpaceX responded by noting the impact posed no risk to Earth and that the trajectory resulted from a combination of solar activity and gravitational forces, which Voss called “exactly the kind of thing a defendant says right before losing in small claims court.”
The Moon is reportedly seeking damages in the form of a formal apology, a mandatory cleanup mission, and what Voss described as “some assurance that this won’t just keep happening, because frankly, we’re getting a reputation.”
NASA has not commented on the complaint but confirmed it is monitoring the debris field with lunar orbiters, which Voss says amounts to “gawking at the scene of the crime.”
At publishing time, Voss confirmed he was also exploring a class action on behalf of Mars, which has reportedly been hit by “several uninvited rovers.”
