The first time Anthony Gomez saw SpaceX’s Starship prototype take off, he watched it on a projector. He was far away from the steamy Texas coast, where the actual launch took place. Instead, he was sitting at home in Florida with his girlfriend.
On the wall of his home, Anthony admires the way Starship rockets tilt in the sky. When the spacecraft reached an altitude of about 41,000 feet, all three Raptor engines shut down and the massive steel craft began its vertical fall back to Earth, tilting on its side and looking like a free-falling grain silo. Just before reaching the landing site, the engines were re-ignited and the vehicle quickly stood upright again, ready for landing. But the spacecraft fell too fast, hit the ground hard, and exploded in a huge explosion. Afterwards, all that’s left is a charred patch of earth where the starship once stood – disappointing.