Japanese researchers design 'space elevator'

An innovative plan for a 'space elevator' connecting Earth to the International Space Station is being tested in miniature.

A team from Shizuoka University in Japan is behind the launch into orbit of a scale model of the device - two small cubic satellites just 10cm wide, connected by a 10m-long steel cable.

A motorized box will travel along the cable between the two satellites, with cameras monitoring its progress.