LiftPort Group

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LiftPort Group is a privately-held Washington State corporation with headquarters in Bremerton, Washington. It was founded in April, 2003 by Michael Laine and is focused on the construction of a space elevator using carbon nanotubes.

[edit] History

On November 12, 2004, LiftPort demonstrated a lifter at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by having it climb up a ribbon approximately 90 metres tall, during a snowstorm^[1].

On September 20, 2005, a LiftPort lifter climbed a 1,000 feet (305 metres) ribbon which was suspended from a balloon.

In January of 2006 LiftPort successfully launched an observation and communication platform a full mile (a kilometre and a half) in the air and maintained it in a stationary position for more than six hours while robotic lifters climbed up and down a ribbon attached to the platform. The platform, a proprietary system that the company has named "HALE" (High Altitude Long Endurance), was secured in place by an arrangement of high altitude balloons, which were also used to launch it. The robotic lifters measured five feet, six inches (1.7 metres) and climbed to a height of more than 1,500 feet (457 metres), surpassing its last test record by more than 500 feet (152 metres)^[2].

As of June 11, 2007, Slashdot reported that LiftPort will be penalized and may be in jeopardy for continued operation, due to an illegal offering of shares in the company. ^[3] However, according to a reply from Michael Laine from Liftport Group this was a paperwork mistake which only resulted in a $20,000 fine. ^[4]