“I pretty much disagree with all that you typed ... “
It’s ok. I figured I’d be in the minority. But you haven’t convinced me. Even if you take the risk issue out, (our litigious society is a factor though), the cost of doing things for science’s sake aren’t what private enterprise is best at doing.
I worked in medical R&D in the 80s and remember when the shift came to private enterprise. Pre 1980s, R&D was important, and well funded. After that, the bottom line for that quarter drove everything. Long term R&D nearly evaporated under the pressure.
No matter, I won’t convince you, and you won’t convince me. I’m ok with disagreement.
What you are missing is that these companies aren’t doing this for science’s sake, but for a profit. That’s why it is costing 200K a seat for this sub-orbital joyride. I hope they make a lot of money.
The R&D for Virgin Galactic was and is being done by Scaled Composites, which developed some of the technology to win the X-Prize, a privately funded competition.