An article in Space News by Brenda Forman, a US aerospace consultant, criticized what she called "hype factories" for "pumping out rosy space tourism packages and splashy public announcements." She did so because "...it is not possible to make an honest offer of a space tourism package."

Unfortunately the article was based on the misunderstanding that the "X Prize" is to be awarded for the first team to carry passengers to orbit. But the whole point of the "X Prize" is that it's to be awarded for a sub-orbital flight - a goal that's far easier than reaching orbit.

Reaching orbit requires accelerating to about Mach 26, which is technologically quite a challenging target for a fully reusable vehicle. But in order to reach an altitude of 100 km you don't need to reach even Mach 5 - which the (fully reusable) X-15 exceeded more than 30 years ago!

Consequently it's technically straightforward, and there is no doubt whatever that sub-orbital flights up to 100 km altitude and back can be offered honestly by responsible travel companies.

When the first private company will actually do it is hard to predict - but it could be within less than a year. And when the first fare-paying passengers will fly is also difficult to predict, but this is likely to be delayed by more legal restrictions than by technical difficulties.

In any case, reliving the experience of Alan Shephard, the first American in space who also made a suborbital flight - though in considerably more comfort and safety - is an idea that is attractive to some customers - and that's all that business needs to start.

Conclusion: space tourism and its promoters survive the attack unscathed.