Fearless Felix sets a marker in his ambitions to join the 23-mile-high club

SKYDIVING daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than half-way to his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump.

The Austrian lifted off on Wednesday for a test jump from New Mexico aboard a helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurised capsule to 13.6 miles, then jumped. He landed safely, according to project spokeswoman Trish Medalen.

He is aiming for nearly 23 miles this summer. The record is 19.5 miles.

Thursday’s jump was a test of his capsule, full-pressure suit, parachutes and other systems. A mini Mission Control – fashioned after Nasa’s – monitored his flight.

Mr Baumgartner reached speeds of up to 364.4mph and was in free fall for three minutes and 43 seconds before pulling his parachute cords. The entire jump lasted eight minutes and eight seconds. Ms Medalen stressed that the statistics are still unofficial.

When the 42-year-old, dubbed “Fearless Felix”, leaps from 120,000 feet in a few months time, he expects to break the sound barrier as he falls through the stratosphere at supersonic speed. There is virtually no atmosphere at that altitude which makes the pressure suit and oxygen supply vital for survival.