SpaceX rocket debris crash lands into man’s lawn in Poland

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A chunk of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made an "uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere" over Poland and crash-landed into a man’s lawn, the Polish space agency said on Wednesday.

The debris, about 1.5m by 1m wide, is from a SpaceX rocket launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on 1 February carrying a payload of Starlink satellites, the agency suspects.

“The Team of the Department of Space Security (DBK) confirms that at about 4.46am to 4.48am on 19 February 2025, an uncontrolled entry into the atmosphere of a member of the Falcon 9 reusable launch vehicle over Polish territory,” the Polish space agency Polsa said.

The mysterious object “resembling a tank” crash-landed into the lawn of Adam Borucki’s warehouse in Komorniki, Poland.

"We are securing the scene... explaining the circumstances of how this object ended up on the premises of the company. We know that parts from a Falcon rocket had flown over Poland,” local police told Poland’s news agency.

A second identical container was found in the forest of Wiry Village about 30km (19 miles) away, Reuters reported, citing local police.

Earlier in the day, the Polish news agency said flashes could be seen in the sky over many parts of Poland.

Witnesses posted videos on social media of spectacular luminous trails as debris entered the atmosphere over western Poland.

Local police said no injuries were reported as a result of this incident.

“The part of the rocket, weighing about 4 tons, came from the Space X Starlink Group 11-4 mission, which took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on 1 February 2025,” the Polish space agency said in a statement.

"We already have photos of the objects that fell near Poznan. The Polsa Space Security Department will verify the object with SpaceX,” it said.

Harvard astronomer and space observer Jonathan McDowell said the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage from the Starlink satellite launch “failed to deorbit itself”.

“This image claims (and it's very likely correct) to show a pressure vessel from the reentered Falcon 9, fallen near Poznan in Poland,” said Dr McDowell, who tracks rocket movements, citing a photograph of the object.

“It reentered over Northern Europe last night, with entry over the Irish Sea at 0343 UTC Feb 19 and the reentry track extending to Poland and Ukraine a couple of minutes later,” he said in a post on X.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

Rocket debris crashing onto Earth could pose increasing risk for aircraft, according to a recent study.

Last year, a giant ring part suspected to be part of a rocket crash landed in Kenya’s Mukuku village.

In 2021, Nasa condemned China for its “irresponsible” attitude towards space safety after debris from one of its rockets fell to Earth.