Hasta La Gadget!

After numerous false starts due to weather and other technical challenges, daredevil Felix Baumgartner successfully launched on his expedition to 120,000 feet this morning. The capsule took off at approximately 9:30am Mountain Daylight Time, and is currently on its way up to its peak altitude of about 23 miles.

As of this writing, Baumgartner is at about 46,000 feet, and rising rapidly towards his goal. The capsule is heading up at about 900 feet-per-minute, and is expected to reach “float” – where he will level off in about 80 minutes or so – around 11:30am MDT. Once he reaches that level, Felix will carefully exit the capsule, and begin his rapid plunge back to Earth below, breaking the speed of sound on the way down before he opens his chute.

Watch the amazing HD live footage of the launch in progress below:

Or head over to the Red Bull Stratos website for live updates on the mission’s progress.

Good luck on the dive, Felix! We’re rooting for you!