His goal was to use ground-based lasers to propel objects into orbit; possibly reducing orbit-flight costs by large factors.
Professor Myrabo first had the idea for laser-propelled Lightcraft in the early 1980s, while working on "Star Wars" anti-missile technology.
In 1985 he co-wrote, with SF author Dean Ing, a popularization of this and other unconventional propulsion concepts in "The Future of Flight", published by Baen.
Myrabo's "lightcraft" design is a reflective funnel-shaped craft that channels heat from the laser, towards the center, causing it to literally explode the air underneath it, generating lift.
Lightcraft were limited to paper studies until about 1996, when Myrabo and Air Force scientist Franklin Mead began trying them out.