Re:Why is this interesting? (Score 1)

Quite right, you've caught an error of omission on my part. Satelite services are already providing orbital launches services for unmanned craft. Nevertheless, if you don't find this achievement to be of any value, you're missing the point. My advice, try and appreciate it for what it is. This has been a $20 million project that has developed a new launch system for manned suborbital flight. The capacity for sub orbital flight may not seem to be an industrial commodity, no more so than a very short airplane trip, for instance, or a trip in a very small plane. Charles Lindburgh didn't offer to use the Sprit of St. Louis for commodoties transport, the wright brothers didn't offer to provide commercial air transport. Lack of practicallity notwithstanding, I would have a hard time being convinced of the quality of the reasoning behind an accusation that Lindburgh was looking for an easy way to snuff it. I don't understand the statement "when your launch package is 99% fuel, re-usability of the vehicle is overrated". I think that there's a disconnect right at the coma. So far as I can tell, you'd want to re-use the vehicle no matter how much of it's payload is fuel.