Space: the final frontier - Space taxi, please!

Up, up and away! With the unveiling of Branson's spaceplane (not sure if it's quite a space ship), we are asked to imagine that a new era in space travel has arrived for the common man, albeit the common man with a serious wad to blow. Barely licking the thermosphere, and quite a bit short of actually achieving orbit, the SS2 will allow passengers a brief taste of weightless and an unparalleled view of the Earth, before returning back to Earth. The idle rich can then turn to the spacehostess and demand a sickbag for corkscrew re-entry. Pretty big spuds needed for that bit of the $200,000 thrill ride, I should think. Still, it's this kind of private indulgence of the rich that prompted the first crossings of the Atlantic by air that eventually allowed the common man to follow suit. Now if Branson could do the same for his trains and planes...