> The thing you just saw fly is similar to "Starhopper."
I think you mean "Grasshopper" (the Falcon 9 VTOL test mule from a few years back). New Shepard is less than half the size of Starhopper, and the BE-3 engine has ~25% of the thrust of the Raptor engine.
Virgin galactic does go to orbit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Orbit
They launched satellites earlier this year.
The space tourism thing is just a part of what the company does.
Virgin Galactic doesn't go to orbit, Virgin Orbit does.
Wow... I didn't even know about that. I stand corrected.
SpaceX is still way ahead though.
"Ahead" implies the same end goal... Neither Virgin Galactic (the suborbital space tourism company) or Virgin Orbit (the orbital small-sat launch company) have the same end goal as SpaceX.
That's like saying Lockheed Martin (maker of the F-35) is "way ahead" of Textron (maker of the Cessna). They have different goals entirely.
Virgin Galactic is an expensive carnival ride and has nothing close to orbital capability.
For those that don't know: getting to orbit (let alone beyond) requires way more delta-V (energy) than getting past the Karman line. The German V-2 is (I think) the first vehicle to do that, but it was nowhere even near orbit capable. The first photo from space was done by the USA with a captured and modified V-2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_No._13