SpaceX Starship Launch Countdown – The Verge

The first time Anthony Gomez saw one of SpaceX’s Starship prototypes fly, he viewed it on a projector. He was a long way from the humid Texas coast, where the actual launch took place. Instead, he was at his Florida home with his girlfriend.

On the wall of his home, Anthony admired the Starship rocket hurtling through the sky. All three Raptor engines stopped as the spacecraft reached an altitude of about 12,000 feet, and the massive steel ship began to descend back toward Earth, tipped on its side, looking like a free-falling grain silo. Just before reaching the landing pad, the engines restarted and the vehicle quickly turned upright as it prepared for landing. But the spacecraft came down too fast, hit the ground hard and burst apart in a massive explosion. After that, only a charred piece of earth was left where Starship once stood – a disappointment.