/sci/ - Science & Math

OP is correct in one sense; The spaceship in question is only designed for suborbital thrill rides. It does too few trips annually and seats too few to ever become reasonably priced, and there's nowhere in space it's capable of going to with an independent economy that would drive down its cost through trade and passenger transport.

However, what he's wrong about is the notion that there will never be affordable space travel. Space development is a real thing, happening right now, with enormous profit potential. Private industry isn't pursuing it out of philanthropy, they recognize that the kind of power and profit achievable by establishing offworld capital and controlling the supply of space resources to Earth could take them from being small emperors to effectively being gods. If you think there's a wealth gap now, just wait until CEOs and bankers are getting blowjobs from slavegirls on ivory thrones in a subterranean base on Mars while robotic mining operations that employ nobody export valuable metals to Earth, while we'll pay any price as we had long since exhausted our own supplies.

It's not a question of whether or not humans will expand to other worlds. It's a question of which ones. If you're happy with only the wealthiest ever settling the moon and Mars, congrats, at least our longterm survival is ensured; But everyone who stays on Earth will forever remain a serf.

How much longer until a space elevator, /sci/?