Fastest speed in freefall

Felix Baumgartner (Austria) fell to Earth at 1,357.6 km/h (843.6 mi/h) during the death-defying Red Bull Stratos mission above New Mexico, USA, on 14 October 2012.

After several postponements due to weather, skydiver Felix Baumgartner (Austria) and the Red Bull Stratus project finally entered the annals of history on 14 October 2012, when Baumgartner skydived from a balloon from the edge of space, breaking the sound barrier in freefall and eight world records that had survived 52 years. He was aided by the man whose records he took, Col Joseph Kittinger (USA), now aged 84. The skydive was also a giant leap for online viewing: with over 8 million concurrent viewers it broke the previous YouTube record of “approximately half a million”. The build-up was well orchestrated; the very real danger was emphasized by the “live” broadcast having a built-in delay, allowing the public to be spared a gruesome spectacle in the event of tragedy. It seemed the world was united in sharing the excitement and adventure of the death-defying leap. After a tension-building ascent of over two hours, Baumgartner could be heard running through the checklist with Col Kittinger and telling of unexpected fogging of his visor. Viewers watched him depressurize the capsule and clamber through the open door to sit on the step, on the edge of space. The view was captured by numerous cameras, allowing the world to see Baumgartner stepping off, falling away rapidly, developing an initially violent spin and recovering control – all blind, due to the fogging of his visor. He continued the freefall and, after some four minutes, deployed his parachute earlier than planned, given his lack of visibility. He had broken eight world records and had missed a ninth by pulling his parachute just 16 seconds too early.

Felix Baumgartner passed away on 17 July 2025. Alongside this record he also achieved a number of incredible feats, including the farthest distance in freefall without a drogue and becoming the first human to break the sound barrier in freefall.