“Austria is proud of your accomplishment,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Former NASA Astronaut Leroy Chiao, speaking on CNN television, said he believed elements of the pressure suit used by Baumgartner would be “incorporated into future pressure suits that are used in spacecraft.”
The Red Bull Stratos mission was the second attempt for the skydiver after an initial bid on Tuesday was aborted at the last minute due to winds.
The biggest risk Baumgartner faced was spinning out of control, which could have exerted excessive g-force and made him lose consciousness.
Temperatures of 90 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 68 Celsius) could also have had unpredictable consequences if his suit somehow failed.
The helmet problem as Baumgartner ascended added to the sense of alarm: the heater failed on his faceplate, meaning it became fogged up when he exhaled.
After considering the options, the nerveless Baumgartner and his entourage decided to go ahead with the jump.
“When you’re standing there on top of the world you become so humble… The only thing is you want to come back alive” – Baumgartner.
Baumgartner’s 100-strong backup team includes retired US Air Force colonel Joe Kittinger, who held set the previous highest freefall jump record from 102,800 feet in 1960.
Baumgartner holds several previous records, notably with spectacular BASE jumps from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
After the leap, he recalled the emotions sweeping through his body when he stepped out of the capsule high above Earth.
“When you’re standing there on top of the world you become so humble… The only thing is you want to come back alive,” he told reporters in Roswell, where the launch mission was based.
His jump coincided with the 65th anniversary of American pilot Chuck Yeager breaking the speed of sound.
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