Agreed. No one ever did anything worthwhile by first claiming it couldn't be done. It's pretty telling when they resort to flame throwing. Con men? Really?

Agreed. No one ever did anything worthwhile by first claiming it couldn't be done. It's pretty telling when they resort to flame throwing. Con men? Really?

Space news didn't write this op-ed piece — a commentator did. But, even if they did, it's not Space News' job to be a cheerleader — it's to be journalists. Unfortunately, the facts in the opinion piece are accurate — the costs are currently way out of line for any significant volume of paying passengers.

If you aim to put down your subsidized toys (NASA) and play in the real world (the free market), you better not cry cynicism when someone gives you a dose of reality.

I do agree that the final line: “To conclude, commercially balanced space tourism is neither for today, nor tomorrow, nor the day after tomorrow.” is pure horse poopy though. I would rather see orbital foundries though instead of orbital tourism.

The authors of this opinion piece both worked for ESA in the launcher division. Perhaps they have ulterior motives for their disparaging remarks to a (presumably) American audience? In any case, they come from big government space programs. It's not surprising that they can't imagine affordable, regular access to space for all of us.