It would be really nice if we were about to get the future as seen from 1965 (space-wise), but I think that's still unlikely. Even if there are as many as TEN

It would be really nice if we were about to get the future as seen from 1965 (space-wise), but I think that's still unlikely. Even if there are as many as TEN "low cost" orbital rocket companies doing launches by 2024[1], I'm skeptical that the US will have the legal and organizational flexibility to allow the level of launches that would make this non-niche. The main obstacles to the growth of space travel are not technical or economic, but governmental. I suppose one odd result of 9/11, though, was showing everyone that the thousands of plane flights every day already have essentially the same potential issues as allowing unlimited orbital rocket launches. [1] ...and right now there's, uh, one, doing a few launches per year, I think.