SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A test launch of SpaceX’s Starship lit up the skies along the Gulf Coast Monday night, giving beachgoers on the Suncoast a spectacular view. The Starship-Super Heavy rocket launched from Starbase, Texas, on a suborbital flight at 7:15 p.m. EDT. It was the 11th flight of the integrated launch vehicle.

This was arguably SpaceX's most successful Starship test flight to date. The only flight with a similar claim occurred one year ago Monday, when the company caught the rocket's Super Heavy booster back at the launch pad after soaring to the uppermost fringes of the atmosphere.

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance will share in $1.1 billion for seven missions, the latest round of deals in the National Security Space Launch program.

Space Coast Office of Tourism data shows overnight visitors who primarily travel to Brevard County to see a launch spend an average of $231 per day.