On the 52nd anniversary of the first Moon landing, Jeff Bazos and three passengers successfully launched to an altitude of over 50 miles - thus qualifying them as Astronauts. The flight appeared flawless.
Eh, call me when you have an actual destination instead of a up and down. I'd prefer to drive my Buick if I want to feel some G-forces.
Bezos ? Just some guy looking for his 15 minutes of fame by going nowhere into space. Maybe he just wants people to know how to spell his name like other famous people ? WARNING !!! This thread runs out in 15 minutes.
I listened to an entire interview with Branson about five years ago on this subject. It was fascinating. The goal, at least at the time of interview, was to start commercial air travel that would fly into space. It would make it possible to fly across the globe in a matter of a couple hours instead of 24 plus hours of travel while actually using less fuel. The idea was the plane would leave the atmosphere of Earth and fly against the Earth's rotation. Once the plane was in space with no drag the engines could be shut down. It's quite an idea.
Suborbital hops are the stuff of 50+ years ago SciFi. It is one of those things they could do. Again, that's why I said call me when they have a destination.
Sure is a big difference in people and wealth. Some are flying into space; others of us are saving up for a new clutch disc!