The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket from the Starlink Group 11-4 mission failed to deorbit as planned on February 2, re-entering the atmosphere on February 19. It was visible across European skies after entering over the Irish Sea at 03:43 UTC
The rocket debris was sighted across Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and England, with its re-entry track extending to Poland and Ukraine.
The event was confirmed by the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), which reported that the rocket, weighing approximately 4 tons, belonged to the SpaceX Starlink Group 11-4 mission, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on February 1, 2025.
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POLSA stated that the trajectory of the object was known to them and other responsible services in Europe, which were monitoring the risk of artificial space objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Pieces of the rocket were recovered in Poland, with experts suggesting that some debris may have also landed in Ukraine.
According to the BBC, a piece of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was discovered on February 19 in Komorniki, Poland, where Adam Borucki found a large piece of the rocket measuring approximately 1.5 x 1 m (5 x 3.3 feet) behind his property. The exact time of discovery is unclear, though Polish police were notified around 9:20 a.m. local time (08:20 UTC), according to the Poznań Police.
He reported that some electrical items and a concrete block stored in his warehouse were also damaged. Polish police stated that a similar piece of debris was found in a forest near the village of Wiry.
Falcon 9 rockets are designed to be reusable. Only the first stage, or booster, is intended to return to Earth in a controlled manner, landing on a droneship, at a SpaceX facility, or in the ocean far from inhabited areas.
The second stage, or upper part of the rocket, is responsible for entering orbit and deploying the payloads, which in this case were Starlink satellites. This stage is designed to deorbit and safely burn up in the atmosphere, but this did not occur as intended.
“It was supposed to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere in a controlled manner and crash into the Pacific Ocean,” Harvard University astrophysicist Dr. Jonathan McDowell told the BBC.
“But the engine failed. We’ve been tracking it orbiting Earth for the past few weeks and anticipated an uncontrolled re-entry today, which is what people saw burning in the sky.”
The debris traveled at approximately 27 360 km/h (17 000 mph), passing over England and parts of Scandinavia before impacting Poland.
References:
1 POLSA announcement regarding the uncontrolled entry of a launch vehicle stage into the atmosphere – POLSA – Februaruy 19, 2024
2SpaceX rocket debris crashes into Poland – BBC – February 19, 2025