Is it possible to get into orbit via aerodynamic exploitation ? Yes. The SR-71 proved it is possible.
No, that does not mean the SR-71 went into space. But what it does mean is that the SR-71 used conventional aerodynamic flight to achieve an altitude where aerodynamic efficiency on its flight control surfaces decreases to near zero. Basically, atmospheric density is too thin.
Density Effects on Aerodynamic Forces
With increasingly thin air to lift the body and to use as a catalyst for propulsion, as jet engines needs oxygen to burn, the ratio of fuel to air increases to the point where it is only fuel left -- rocketry. Since the SR-71 never left atmospheric flight, its engines remain fuel-air ratio burners, not rocket motors like the ones used by the Space Shuttle or Delta rockets.
Making a rocket land vertically is a natural evolution of using rockets. Turning a disposable vehicle into a reusable one. What next is a new type of propulsion that will allow us to use aerodynamics to take off, achieve as high an altitude as possible via atmospheric flight, then boost the vehicle into orbit at the appropriate point. It will mean a new vehicle design with wings, like the Space Shuttle, except this new vehicle will be powered at all times.
There are advantages and disadvantages for both methods. Vertical TO and Landing requires less ground space but relies heavily on vehicle's propulsion. Aerodynamic exploitation requires more ground space -- runways -- but relies more on the atmosphere for lift. If propulsion is not a problem, as in theoretically unlimited quantity, then no need for wings. But since fuel is a variable, as in consumption which inevitably leads to fuel quantity of zero, why not use wings even though the wings are useless in space ? So unless there is a way to use gravity, as in anti-gravity, then the debate on which method is best depends on what the vehicle is being used for.
Finally...The group that will benefit the most in terms of technical and engineering prestige is the control group, as in the scientists and engineers that must design the control systems necessary to keep the rocket upright, systems such as precision small attitude rockets, computers, control laws, algorithms, and many other sub-systems.
