I agree that this particular aircraft / project has limited potential. What I am most excited about is the potential for advancement of the field that could lead to realizing the potential benefits in supersonic transport.
It’s like props vs jets. Jet aircraft were less efficient but faster… until the altitude benefits made them more efficient and faster. Flying at the edge of space is the next step in that speed/ efficiency curve, and that is necessarily supersonic.
I would be exited if there were doing that, something really revolutionary, being faster with less fuel, or at least, flying at the same speed with less fuel. Unfortunately, it's something for the rich masquerading as an improvement for the entire world.
Still happy for the engineers working on this, they are probably having a great time designing a new aircraft.
It’s like props vs jets. Jet aircraft were less efficient but faster… until the altitude benefits made them more efficient and faster. Flying at the edge of space is the next step in that speed/ efficiency curve, and that is necessarily supersonic.