Space Elevator.

LiftPort Group successfully built a mile-long tether into the sky, stretched taut by large balloons. A robot then climbed up the tether kind of like a space elevator.

The company's lofty objective will sound familiar to followers of NASA's Centennial Challenges programme. The desired outcome is a 62,000-mile (99,779 km) tether that robotic lifters – powered by laser beams from Earth – can climb, ferrying cargo, satellites and eventually people into space.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn8725 (via digg)