LiftPort Makes Progress with Space Elevator Technology

LiftPort Group Completes Second Round of Tests…: “LiftPort Group Completes Second Round of Tests of Its Space Elevator Technology under FAA Waiver”

It’s good to see some progress by a company dedicated to building a Space Elevator. Now if we could only find more seed more for the core technologies needed to make this vision a reality.

From the press release: “In this phase of testing, conducted earlier this month in Arizona, LiftPort successfully launched an observation and communication platform a full mile in the air and maintained it in a stationery 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.”