--- title: "SpaceX Has Reached the Moon, Just Not How Elon Musk Might Have Planned It" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/295058939.md" description: "SpaceX's Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the Moon in August 2026, creating a 60-foot crater due to solar activity and gravitational forces. This event coincided with SpaceX's first earnings call since its June IPO, where Q2 revenue surged 92% YoY to $7.81 billion, beating estimates. Despite an EPS loss, shares rose 1.48%. The crash poses no Earth danger, while SpaceX remains vital to NASA's Artemis Program." datetime: "2026-08-06T04:27:47.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/295058939.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/295058939.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/295058939.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # SpaceX Has Reached the Moon, Just Not How Elon Musk Might Have Planned It **Space Exploration Technologies Corp.** (NASDAQ:SPCX) may have achieved one of CEO **Elon Musk**‘s long-standing goals of reaching the lunar surface, but not in the way the commercial spaceflight giant would have envisioned, after a rocket crashed into the moon on Wednesday. ## Falcon 9 Launched in January 2025 Causes 60-Foot Crater The upper stage of a Falcon 9 Rocket launched in January 2025 crashed into the moon at approximately 5,400 mph following more than a year’s worth of drifting through space, leaving an approximately 60-foot-wide crater on the Lunar surface near the Einstein and Bell craters, according to a statement by NASA. **Read Also: QUICK SPARK: Elon Musk Hit With $87 Billion Wealth Wipeout as SpaceX Slides 13%** “Solar activity and gravitational forces caused the stage’s unplanned return to the Moon,” the agency said in its statement. The Falcon 9 rocket was carrying a lunar lander part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. The lunar lander, **Firefly Aerospace Inc.**‘s (NASDAQ:FLY) Blue Ghost 1, successfully landed on the moon. *SpaceX did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for a comment.* Musk, in a post on **X** on Wednesday, shared a video that showcased a simulation of the moment the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage crashed into the moon. Debris can be seen flying off several hundred feet in the air at the moment of impact. NASA confirmed the crash poses no danger to Earth. > pic.twitter.com/eMjhOtsNVM > > — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2026 ## SpaceX’s Earnings Coinciding with the crash landing, SpaceX also held its first-ever earnings call since going public back in June this year. The commercial space flight company reported its second-quarter revenue of $7.81 billion, which was up 92% YoY and above the analysts’ estimates of $6.93 billion. **Read Also: Gary Black Says Retail Investors Buying the SpaceX Stock Dip 'Makes No Sense' as Float Set To Double on Thursday** SpaceX also reported an EPS loss of 9 cents per share, beating market estimates of 23 cents per share. The company also said that it expects to reach an annual revenue of $1 trillion by the end of the decade, with Musk hailing the company’s earnings as a warning for short-sellers. ## NASA’s Artemis Program The company remains a crucial part of NASA’s plans to reach the Moon through its Artemis Program, with the agency’s Administrator, **Jared Isaacman**, saying that NASA cannot establish a permanent presence on the Lunar surface without SpaceX. Meanwhile, Musk had said that the commercial spaceflight company will aim to reach the surface of Mars in the next 5-7 years. Benzinga Edge Rankings show SpaceX fails to provide a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium and Long term. **Price Action:** SpaceX shares surged 1.48% to $109.88 during overnight trading on Wednesday. **Read Also: Elon Musk Says Zohran Mamdani Is a 'Thief' and a 'Liar' Over City-Owned Grocery Stores: 'AI & Robots Will Actually Deliver' Free Goods and Services** *Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by* following this link. *Photo courtesy: Samuel Boivin / Shutterstock.com* ### Related Stocks - [SPCX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCX.US.md) - [NASA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NASA.US.md) - [SPCH.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCH.US.md) - [SPCF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCF.US.md) - [SPAL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPAL.US.md) - [SNK.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SNK.US.md) - [SSPC.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SSPC.US.md) - [SPCU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SPCU.US.md) - [LOFF.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/LOFF.US.md) - [FLY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FLY.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [SpaceX and a new Trump order that could rewrite the next decade of launches](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296670980.md) - [Trump Signs New National Space Transportation Policy That Aims for 1,000 Launches by 2030, Outlines Plans for 'Americans to the Moon' by 2028](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296568231.md) - [Trump bought shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX in June, financial disclosure shows](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296815446.md) - [Elon Musk Denies SpaceX Sought to Buy AI Startup Cognition, Says Talks Only Centered on Grok](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296478283.md) - [Bernstein Reaffirms Their Buy Rating on SpaceX (SPCX)](https://longbridge.com/en/news/296602218.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**