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August 11, 2005
Michael Laine, President and Founder, LiftPort, Inc., 7/20/05
Michael Laine is president and founder of LiftPort Inc., a privately held “C” corporation, headquartered in Bremerton, WA, focusing on the development of commerce in space. LiftPort’s mission is simple: to build a complete space transportation infrastructure with a focus on the space elevator. Toward that goal, the team at LiftPort Group is partnering with universities, research labs, and private businesses to develop the necessary technologies and capabilities. The subject of research for more than a century, the space elevator is a unique way to ferry cargo and people into space. Recent advances in technology, most notably the development of carbon nanotube composites, now appear to make building a space elevator feasible. Initial research reports on building the space elevator that draw upon these discoveries have now been completed. As proposed in these reports, the space elevator will consist of a carbon nanotube composite ribbon stretching some 62,000 miles from earth to space. The elevator will be anchored to an offshore sea platform near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, and to a small counterweight in space. Mechanical lifters (robotic elevator cars) will move up and down the ribbon, carrying such items as satellites, solar power systems, and eventually people into space. LiftPort's plan is to take the concept from the research laboratory to commercial development.
Posted by David Lemberg at August 11, 2005 04:58 PM Return to SCIENCE AND SOCIETY home page