I don't see the same goals. SpaceX never talked about about this sort of suborbital tourism. The problem with "space" tourism as a source of funding is that nobody has ever made a go of it. There are only so many people capable of dropping 200,000$ on an hour-long thrill ride. And only a very few of those are young enough (say under 60?) to enjoy a 5g return to earth. It just isn't a reliable source of funds ... but it does get the press coverage needed to trap naive investors.
> There are only so many people capable of dropping 200,000$ on an hour-long thrill ride.
You obviously haven't been hanging around wealthy people. Even just being a student in London you witness nights out costing spoiled kids more than that.
Ok, slight hyperbole. But there is no shortage of nouveau riche in this world ready to spend on some high-status thrill.
