That compares things location wise, but it misses out entirely on comparing the speeds, the difference of speed is a huge element in comparing the two efforts, in fact it is the distinguishing factor.
> But getting to space is easy. The problem is staying there.
> To avoid falling back into the atmosphere, you have to go sideways really, really fast…The speed you need to stay in orbit is about 8 kilometers per second. Only a fraction of a rocket's energy is used to lift up out of the atmosphere; the vast majority of it is used to gain orbital (sideways) speed.
Highly recommended.