Tonight, Red Bull Media House will take to new heights, literally, when Austrian man Felix Baumgartner dons a space suit, reaches an altitude of 37 kilometres, and takes a dive in what will be the highest 'base jump' ever.

Dubbed the ‘Red Bull Stratos mission’, the supersonic freefall will be broadcast live through an Australian partnership with the Seven Network and a global partnership with YouTube.

Streaming from the stratosphere

Building on the success of the Red Bull YouTube Channel, which boasts over 500,000 subscribers, the Red Bull Stratos project will capitalise on the audience built through Red Bull Media House's exclusive partnership in YouTube's original programming initiative.

The live stream will be broadcast on the Red Bull Stratos website, the Red Bull Channel on YouTube, and on their Facebook page.

An embeddable live stream is also available to be featured on any digital platform, including mobile.

Lucky Felix

If all goes to plan, Felix Baumgartner will jump from the largest helium-filled balloon ever built for manned flight from near the edge of space, and become the first man to break the sound barrier in free fall.

The mission has been in development for over five years to ensure Baumgartner’s safety during the fall, and to figure out how to document his descent.

Red Bull has developed an aerial production studio together with Riedel Communications, Flightline Films and 3G Communications to track the freefall, allowing viewers to view a live data feed and hear radio communications.

The planned four-hour broadcast will see Baumgartner wear three point-of-view cameras, along with further images broadcast from the launch capsule, a helicopter and high altitude infrared and HD tracking systems.

One giant step for publicity

Red Bull Media House and YouTube will both leverage their ability to drive tune-in marketing as well as live stream experiences during the mission.

The Stratos project mirrors the meteoric rise of the five-year-old Salzburg-based Red Bull Media, which now produces 350 events in 140 countries around the world every year, becoming one of the top five content producers on YouTube in sports globally.

“We’re producing 35 hours a week of footage for live sports and other events,” says Red Bull Media creative director Andi Hoss.

“The Red Bull brand is for consumers but we are enhancing it and making it a media brand.”

Both Baumgartner and Red Bull Stratos determinedly describe the purpose of the project as “to advance scientific discoveries in aerospace for the benefit of mankind”.

It is also, as one commentator has said, “one giant leap for publicity”.

Watch from the couch

Due to weather variables, which require specific conditions to be perfect in order to launch, it is not possible to identify an exact time for the Red Bull Stratos mission and live online broadcast.

The weather window was originally scheduled to open on October 8, but was delayed one day due to high winds, and the new launch target is now roughly 11pm October 9, Australian Eastern Daylight Time.

The incredible feat will be broadcast live and exclusively through a Seven News special on 7mate, allowing viewers to follow the jump from the balloon's launch in Roswell, New Mexico, to Felix's descent back to earth.

Watch the concept video here.

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