Not sure why, but "Thoft" makes me laugh. Also, I love the artist rendering of the top of the elevator with THOFT written in huge letters, you know, for all the people passing by.
30% decrease in fuel cost is a big deal, and something like this would make simpler tasks, like refueling and resupplying the ISS less cost prohibitive, and indeed the rest of space related activities. Pretty cool.
I do honestly wonder how non-specific the patent is, which is difficult to tell since I didnt see a link to it on the article anywhere and I'm far to lazy to go looking it up.
As always, the comments section is humanity at its finest. Take an article about a patent on Space.com and turn it into a political debate about terrorism and economics. Classic!