The company's mission is simple: to build the first elevator to space. Towards 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 make building a space elevator feasible. Final 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 will move up and down the ribbon, carrying such items as satellites, solar power systems, and eventually people into space. LiftPort's mission is to take the concept from the research laboratory to commercial
development.