The giant high-altitude balloon, bathed in the desert's golden morning light, drifted slowly into the sky above Northam, a small mining town 100 km (62 miles) east of Perth, just after 7.00 a.m. (2300 GMT).

Fossett had delayed inflating the aircraft for six and a half hours due to unfavourable winds, but with time running out before the arrival of the morning's hot thermals, he gave the order to fill the balloon with helium for a dawn launch.

Fossett waved to around 100 townsfolk as he entered the capsule for an eastward circumnavigation that he expects will take 15 days.

"I am a bit nervous about the first night," Fossett said before take-off.

"On the first night I will find out if everything works, if there are any leaks in the balloon, if there are any failures in communications and if the all-important heating works," he said.

The millionaire former stockbroker has made a series of failed attempts to fly solo in a balloon around the world.

The last attempt to inflate the giant balloon for a launch on June 17 from the Australian gold mining town of Kalgoorlie ended in disaster when a freak wind tore it apart.

Fossett's fourth solo bid ended in near disaster in 1998, when a thunderstorm off Australia's northeastern coast shredded his canopy and sent him plummeting 29,000 feet (9,000 metres) into the Coral Sea. He was unhurt.

This year Fossett, 57, decided to launch in western Australia, some 600 km (400 miles) from the Indian Ocean, to have a better chance of avoiding thunderstorms in the South Pacific and gain time to detect problems while still over land.

这位百万富翁曾是一位股票经纪人，他多次尝试只身乘热气球环球旅行，但都以失败而告终。

福塞上一次尝试是今年6月17日在澳大利亚一个盛产金子的城镇--卡尔吉利进行的。但是当时的一阵怪风将气球撕裂，他的这次尝试成了一次事故。

福塞的第四次尝试是在1998年，当时来自澳大利亚东北海岸的一场风暴撕裂了气球的罩蓬，结果他从29000英尺（9000米）的高空垂直掉进了太平洋的珊瑚海，万幸的是他并没有受伤，这次失败的尝试差点成了一次灾难。

现年57岁的福塞这次决定在距印度洋约600公里的澳大利亚西部点火，是为了尽量避免遇上来自南太平洋的暴风雨，也使得热气球还在陆地上空飞行时，他可以有时间对热气球进行检修。