Bootstrapping Hawaii

> What does taking tourists on suborbital hops do for the big picture?

It shows that private industry can tackle both rocketry and space. At
the moment there's reason to doubt this; it's a big job and governments
aren't really stepping up to the plate as they should; but they're on
the playing field and this is scaring off the other players.

Space is funding/market limited right now; governments will not take us
there; although they could, but they have insufficient incentive to do
this. Perhaps private industry won't either, but then again, it has
never tried as yet.

If suborbital hops work, private funding for orbital is much more
likely- hopefully certain. There are certainly non governmental funding
sources out there that can fund orbital vehicles, the question is why
should they? What's in it for them? Suborbital may very well be the
stepping stone on the way there; particularly if it makes money.