A bright fireball streaked across the European sky on February 19, as debris from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made an uncontrolled reentry. Reports from the United Kingdom, Germany, and Poland confirmed sightings of the object as it burned up in the atmosphere before fragments crashed to the ground. Social media users in Lincolnshire, England, and Berlin, Germany, captured images and videos of the event, showing a blazing trail in the night sky. In Poland, a large metallic object was discovered outside the city of Poznań, prompting an investigation by local authorities and space agencies.
Rocket Debris Identified
According to the Polish Space Agency (POLSA), the object was part of the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on February 1, 2025. The agency confirmed that the debris, weighing approximately four tons, originated from the Starlink Group 11-4 mission. The upper stage, which is designed to deorbit after completing its mission, failed to execute the manoeuvre as planned. Astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics stated via X that the reentry occurred over the Irish Sea at 03:43 UTC, with debris reaching Poland and Ukraine within minutes.
Authorities Respond to the Incident
As per space.com, the Poznań Police reported receiving a call around 9:20 a.m. from workers at a company in Komornik, who discovered an unidentified cylindrical object on their premises. No injuries or property damage were reported. Another similar object was later found in a nearby forest near Wiry Village, approximately 30 kilometres away from the initial discovery. Agnieszka Gapys, press officer for POLSA, stated to Reuters that examinations were underway to confirm the origin of the debris. A third object was reportedly spotted, but official confirmation is still pending. As of Wednesday afternoon, SpaceX had not released a statement on the incident.
