The Rocketquake

Seismology requires sources — earthquakes, explosions, or controlled vibrations that send waves through the subsurface for instruments to detect. On Earth, we have plenty. On the Moon and Mars, sources are scarce: occasional meteorite impacts, rare marsquakes, and whatever vibrations a lander generates by existing. This limits what we can learn about planetary interiors.

Schuster et al. (arXiv:2502.01982) point out that we already have a powerful, repeated seismic source available: rocket launches. They deployed nine seismometers in a line extending 7 km from a Falcon 9 launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base and recorded the results.

The seismic signal is clean. Coherent body waves with P-wave velocities exceeding 2.0 km/s penetrate to depths greater than 1 km. Rayleigh waves propagate along the surface with enough signal to invert for S-velocity profiles down to 60 meters. The data quality is sufficient for subsurface imaging — not just detection but structural characterization.

A single Falcon 9 launch generates a seismic source more energetic and better-characterized than most controlled seismic experiments. And SpaceX launches roughly once a week. The rocket program is inadvertently running a continuous seismological survey of its launch sites.

The extraplanetary application is the real prize. Future lunar and Martian bases will need to launch and land vehicles. Each launch and landing is a seismic experiment, penetrating kilometers into the subsurface. The same infrastructure that enables space exploration — regular rocket operations — automatically provides the seismic sources needed to characterize the ground beneath the base. The logistical problem of planetary seismology dissolves into the operational infrastructure of the colony itself.

Schuster et al., “Rocketquake Seismology with a Falcon 9 Rocket Source,” arXiv:2502.01982 (2025).