Can spacecraft move due to magnetism?

I used the above title of this blog post in a google search and came up with this link.

The reason this interests me is that JP Aerospace has this idea of using airships to orbit.  I was wondering if such a large airship as they are planning will give enough lift to get the airship above the atmosphere by using this technique.

I am not aware that such a technique is envisioned in their plans, only that some folks are doubtful of the airships capability of getting into orbit.  The one problem such an airship could have is friction.  Once it gets up enough speed, it will begin experiencing friction and that could jeapordize the airship.

I did note that the airship will be aerodynamic, which means that they anticipate enough forward speed to give it some lift.  But that alone won't be sufficient to get above the atmosphere.  Once the lift is gone, altitude gain will have to come in some other fashion.  Yet there could still be enough atmosphere left to cause friction which could be a problem.

Now if the airship had enough lift from a magnetic field so that it could rise above the atmosphere, it could have a better opportunity of reaching space before burning up from friction.

Update: 1/12/11, approx 3:20pm cst

It appears that an electrodynamic tether of the type was being considered by the Russians for boosting their Mir space station to a higher orbit.  It consisted of a 330 lb assembly with a 3 mile aluminum wire tether.  Source Van Pelt:  Space Tethers and Space Elevators p. 132.  Power requirement were a few kilowatts, not too much for a solar power array.