Space jump daredevil hits out at Branson's 'insane' idea

Daredevil Felix Baumgartner, who leapt into the stratosphere from a balloon hovering near the edge of space 24 miles above Earth, has hit out at Sir Richard Branson after the Virgin boss hinted that his company could attempt to break the Austrian's record.

Baumgartner, whose Red Bull Stratos mission was watched by millions, smashed the record for the highest ever freefall when he leapt from 128,100ft above New Mexico.

Watch the jump again here:

Writing in his blog Mr Branson said he was approached by someone in 2005 who wanted to jump 400,000ft from Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipOne.

Mr Branson added that it "could be fun for Virgin to give Red Bull a run for their money". However, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Baumgartner dismissed the comments as some "kind of joke," adding that the idea of someone jumping from that height was "completely insane".

He told the newspaper: