I think clareprop nailed it, and we seem to agree on a number of issues. Rockets crash, especially at the beginning of a project when people are learning how to get things into orbit. On the other hand, the completely amateurish live broadcast made it look as though the project was designed and understood by a bunch of Homer Simpson clones. While the rocket was crashing you heard some government minister saying how wonderful this event was for the UK on an open mic. This was Graham Taylor-type stupidity and made me hold my head in my hands. I'm proud of the UK but this was just horrible to watch.