D-Bone
Aug 10th '06, 09:34 AM
Source: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3726
The LiftPort Group, the company best know for wanting to build a massive space elevator before 2020, is currently doing research to see if a balloon-based platform can proficiently serve as another way to get wireless Internet access in remote areas or areas struck by natural disasters. The two-month test started after the Federal Aviation Administration gave the company a waiver for a test on western Washington's Kitsap Peninsula. A cluster of three balloons was raised to 150-feet so that it can be prepared with lights so it is able to reach an elevation of 300 to 500 feet.
Assuming that the service works out, the company may be able to offer $20 per month broadband access to consumers that are only able to get dial-up service. The company already has Lightspeed Broadband, a wireless Internet access provider, interested in the service. Since LiftPort does not currently have a constant revenue stream -- space elevators are not exactly in high demand yet -- offering an Internet service could prove to be lucrative.
The LiftPort Group announced in February that it had completed a second round of testing on a prototype space elevator platform that stretches over a mile into the sky. A tethered cable thousands of miles long would allow for cargo and supplies to get into space without the need of a rocket launch.
The LiftPort Group, the company best know for wanting to build a massive space elevator before 2020, is currently doing research to see if a balloon-based platform can proficiently serve as another way to get wireless Internet access in remote areas or areas struck by natural disasters. The two-month test started after the Federal Aviation Administration gave the company a waiver for a test on western Washington's Kitsap Peninsula. A cluster of three balloons was raised to 150-feet so that it can be prepared with lights so it is able to reach an elevation of 300 to 500 feet.
Assuming that the service works out, the company may be able to offer $20 per month broadband access to consumers that are only able to get dial-up service. The company already has Lightspeed Broadband, a wireless Internet access provider, interested in the service. Since LiftPort does not currently have a constant revenue stream -- space elevators are not exactly in high demand yet -- offering an Internet service could prove to be lucrative.
The LiftPort Group announced in February that it had completed a second round of testing on a prototype space elevator platform that stretches over a mile into the sky. A tethered cable thousands of miles long would allow for cargo and supplies to get into space without the need of a rocket launch.