Polish authorities examine debris after Falcon 9 stage re-enters over Poland

Polish authorities examined suspected rocket debris on the date of 2025-02-19 after a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage re-entered the atmosphere over Poland, producing bright sightings across parts of Europe and leaving objects on the ground in the country.

The Polish Space Agency, Polsa, confirmed that the uncontrolled re-entry of the Falcon 9 second stage occurred between 04:46 and 04:48 on February 19, 2025, over Poland. The event followed sightings reported in countries including Denmark, Sweden and England, where observers saw a flaming object crossing the sky in the early hours.

One of the first confirmed finds was reported in Komorniki, Poland, where Adam Borucki discovered a charred tank-like object behind his warehouse at around 10:00 local time. The object was described as measuring about 1.5 metres by 1 metre. Borucki told the BBC that power poles in the storage yard were broken and that some electrical items and a concrete block in the warehouse had been damaged. He said he was relieved that nobody had been hurt.

Police were contacted, and officers worked with Polsa to identify the object as debris from a Falcon 9 rocket made by SpaceX, the company led by Elon Musk. Police spokesperson Andrzej Borowiak said investigators were looking into how the object came to be at the site, while stressing that no injuries had been reported.

Additional similar objects were found during the day. Polish police reported a comparable piece of debris in a forest near the village of Wiry. TVN24, citing Poznań regional police spokesperson Andrzej Borowiak, later reported that a third tank-like object had been found in a field in the Kuślin municipality near Nowy Tomyśl, similar to the objects found in Komorniki and Wiry. Fire service spokesperson Martin Halasz also confirmed that an object resembling the earlier finds had been discovered in Śliwno on a private plot.

The rocket stage involved had been launched by SpaceX from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on February 1. Harvard University astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told the BBC that the stage was expected to re-enter in a controlled way and fall into the Pacific Ocean, but that an engine failure prevented that outcome. He said analysts had tracked the object in orbit for weeks and anticipated an uncontrolled re-entry.

McDowell said the debris passed over England at roughly 17,000 mph before moving over parts of Scandinavia and then falling into eastern Europe at much lower speeds. He also said pieces may have reached western Ukraine, although the confirmed large debris cited in the supplied reports was in Poland.

Space debris from rockets and satellites re-enters the atmosphere several times a month, and much of it burns up before reaching the ground. Larger fragments can survive descent. McDowell described uncontrolled re-entry by a large rocket stage as uncommon and potentially hazardous, noting that no injuries had been reported in this case.

TVN24 also reported that police responded to damage on the S5 road near Czerlejno on the same day. Officers later said the hole involved a piece of asphalt and that road services would repair it.