LiftPort Group

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LiftPort Group is a privately-owned business with headquarters in Bremerton, Washington, founded by Michael Laine. It is focused on the construction of a space elevator using carbon nanotubes. It plans to launch the first cargo using a space elevator on October 27, 2031^[1].

On November 12, 2004, LiftPort demonstrated their lifter at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by having it climb up a ribbon approximately 90 metres tall, during a snowstorm^[2].

On September 20, 2005, LiftPort's lifter climbed a 1,000 foot ribbon which was suspended from a balloon.

In January of 2006 LiftPort successfully launched an observation and communication platform a full mile 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 and climbed to a height of more than 1500 feet, surpassing its last test record by more than 500 feet^[3].

On May 11, 2006 LiftPort had its first book, LiftPort: Opening Space To Everyone, published by Meisha Merlin Publishing. ISBN 1592221092