[dev_tty01]

Yeah, the sub-orbital is a harder sell. When you are the only one or one of a few, the benefit/cost is perceived to be higher. After a dozen or so of these flights much of the cachet will be gone. Can they (Bezos/Branson) bring the cost down fast enough to transition to a sustainable model?

In 2000, Dennis Tito paid $20M for 11,400 minutes in space or about $1750/minute ($2765 in 2021 dollars). The Branson and Bezos models 20 years later are much more expensive per minute and are so short there is no real time to absorb the experience.

[simpleguitar]

I think a lot of people might be willing to pay for 4 days in orbit for $2M.

My version would have blackjack and hookers, obviously.

[samstave]

Honestly, I wish Branson and Bezos would have just put their dicks back in their pants and just fully got behind spaceX

I absolutely dont care about Bezos or Branson being able to do these stunts - SpaceX already docked with the IIS ffs.

It's like McClaren winning the Gran Prix, and then Toyota and Ford showing that their CEOs can finish a few laps in Monaco.

[lttlrck]

Doesn't blindly ceding to the industry leaders ultimately result in stagnation?

The VG and BO launches were both underwhelming for me - but it's still exciting to see the different engineering approaches, it's like hedging a bet, and I am sure each of them will pay dividends - one way or another.