An Indian business tycoon with a penchant for adventure created a new hot-air balloon altitude record on Saturday, touching the edge of space in a climb to nearly 70,000 feet (21,336 metres).
Vijaypat Singhania, an amateur aviator whose family controls the diversified JK Group, broke the 17-year-old world record of 64,997 feet (19,810 metres) set by British-based Swede Per Lindstrand by ascending to approximately 69,852 feet, the edge of space.
Singhania had originally aimed for 70,000 feet, but decided against it towards the end of the journey.
"At 69,800-plus feet, he hit an air pocket and the ascent became slow. We decided not to push ahead as he had broken the record anyway," Colin Prescot, who designed the balloon with Andy Elson, told reporters even as Singhania began his descent, shortly before 9 am (0330g).
The Federation Aeronautique International (FAI) says an aviator must achieve at least a three percent improvement on an existing record to qualify for recognition as a new record.
Singhania's record awaits formal ratification. "Representatives of the Aeronautical Club of India, who are here, will submit a report to the FAI," Prescot said.
The 67-year-old Singhania took off at dawn in a specially-designed nylon balloon from the polo ground of a race course in India's commercial hub of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay.
He rode the rising warm air west and then moved north for an intended landing near Nasik district, 185 km (115 miles) away.
Singhania, an avid flyer, flew solo a microlight aircraft from Britain to India in a record 23 days in 1988. He also won the International Around the World Air Race in 1994.
The balloon's envelope has been made using a special light nylon and was powered by 18 burners, fuelled by kerosene and propane. It included a pressurised aluminium capsule in which Singhania flew.