The second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket disintegrated over Europe during re-entry.
On the night of February 18-19, 2025, the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket disintegrated over Europe, causing a shower of shooting stars. In Poland, debris were found across the country.
It all started with a technical failure during a mission that began two weeks earlier. While the first stage of the launcher returned safely, as usual, the second stage had to perform a maneuver to be deorbited.
But this operation, which is systematically carried out to direct this element towards totally uninhabited areas (in this case, the Indian Ocean), could not be carried out. According to SpaceX , this was due to “a small leak of liquid oxygen, which led to higher combustion rates of the vehicle than expected “.
Faced with this malfunction, the decision was made not to proceed with the relighting of the upper stage (which weighs almost four tons) in order to take no risks.” The deorbit combustion was not performed and the vehicle was passivated in orbit to eliminate the stored energy sources ,” confirms SpaceX.
SpaceX and Poland cooperate on debris recovery
But, by making this choice, the atmospheric re-entry of the upper stage went from a controlled deorbit status to an uncontrolled fall to Earth. A return monitored by SpaceX and the European Space Agency.
According to SpaceX, after the Falcon 9’s second stage was passivated and it re-entered the atmosphere over Europe, its teams are “working closely with the Polish government on recovery and cleanup operations .”
Photos have been circulating on the Internet, such as this high-pressure carbon tank.
In a February 20 update , the Polish space agency confirmed that it is cooperating with SpaceX to recover and return the remains of the Falcon 9 found in the country. Police have also been called in to secure the affected areas.
These debris, SpaceX specifies, “do not contain any toxic material .” However, it is recommended not to handle or collect them, even if you find some at home. Moreover, space debris falling in your garden or house does not automatically result in a transfer of ownership.
