LiftPort Inc., the space
elevator company, today announced the appointment of Christopher J.
Petrella as the company’ chief operations officer.

A former Democratic Candidate for Governor of Nevada, Petrella
will be responsible for day-to-day operations of LiftPort as well as
political development for the space elevator.

Petrella brings with him more than 15 years of experience
successfully managing large teams of technical people, including teams
from GE Government Services and his own campaign staff. Among the
positions Petrella has held prior to LiftPort include: director of
business development for TVBannerads Inc., of Anaheim, Calif.;
president and co-founder of VATM Inc., a Nevada-based company that
developed software applications for set top boxes; and owner of
FTB/EXIMA, a German-based telecommunications company that he
ultimately sold to AT&T Deutschland. Petrella was also the Las Vegas
Chamber of Commerce “Marketing Biz Guide Consultant” for large
companies relocating to Southern Nevada. His client list included
Blimpi Subs and Silver State Bank.

Prior to his business career, Petrella served in the United States
Army, where he developed a secure one-way method for gathering human
intelligence (HUMINT) and wrote Anti-terrorism Standard Operating
Procedure used in Desert Shield/Storm.

In the political arena, Petrella was on the 1996 committee
representing Nevada for the White House Consul on Small Business
Affairs 2000.

Petrella studied computer science. He has also two patents pending
for Computer User Interface and video Transmission of Advertisements.

“We’re pleased to have a seasoned professional of Chris’ caliber
on the LiftPort team,” said Michael Laine, president and founder of
LiftPort. “Chris’ breadth of experience in the private sector,
government and political arenas will be a great asset to LiftPort as
we move forward on the commercial development of the space elevator.”

Headquartered in Bremerton, Wash., LiftPort Inc. is a privately
held company dedicated to the development of the first elevator to
space. The company was founded by Michael Laine, the president and
co-founder of HighLift Systems, the Seattle-based research company
that received a grant from NASA to investigate building an elevator to
space. As proposed by LiftPort, 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 Inc. is located at 245 4th Street, Suite 508, Bremerton,
Wash. 98337. More information can be obtained at the company’s web
site at www.liftport.com