This listing of flight altitude records are the records set for the highest aeronautical flights conducted in the atmosphere and beyond, set since the age of ballooning.

Some, but not all of the records were certified by the non-profit international aviation organization, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), founded on 14 October 1905 in Paris by Aéro Clubs from several nations. One reason for a lack of 'official' certification was that the flight occurred prior to the creation of the FAI.

For clarity, the "Fixed-wing aircraft" table is sorted by FAI-designated categories as determined by whether the record-creating aircraft left the ground by its own power (category "Altitude"), or whether it was first carried aloft by a carrier-aircraft prior to its record setting event (category "Altitude gain", or formally "Altitude Gain, Aeroplane Launched from a Carrier Aircraft"). Other sub-categories describe the airframe, and more importantly, the powerplant type (since rocket-powered aircraft can have greater altitude abilities than those with airbreathing jet engines).

An essential requirement for the creation of an "official" altitude record is the employment of FAI-certified observers present during the record-setting flight. Thus several records noted are unofficial due to the lack of such observers.

Balloons

1783-10-15: ; Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier of France, the first ascent in a hot-air balloon. 1783-10-19: ; Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, in Paris. 1783-10-19: ; Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier with André Giroud de Villette, in Paris. 1783-11-21: ; Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier with Marquis d'Arlandes, in Paris. 1783-12-01: ; Jacques Alexandre Charles and his assistant Marie-Noël Robert, both of France, made the first flight in a hydrogen balloon to about . Charles then ascended alone to the record altitude. 1784-06-23: ; Pilâtre de Rozier and the chemist Joseph Proust in a Montgolfier. 1803-07-18: ; Étienne-Gaspard Robert and Auguste Lhoëst in a balloon. 1839: ; Charles Green and Spencer Rush in a free balloon. 1862-09-05: about ; Henry Coxwell and James Glaisher in a balloon filled with coal gas. Glaisher lost consciousness during the ascent due to the low air pressure and cold temperature of . 1901-07-31: ; Arthur Berson and Reinhard Süring in the hydrogen balloon Preußen, in an open basket and with oxygen in steel cylinders. This flight contributed to the discovery of the stratosphere. 1927-11-04: ; Captain Hawthorne C. Gray, of the U.S. Army Air Corps, in a helium balloon. Gray lost consciousness after his oxygen supply ran out and was killed in the crash. 1931-05-27: ; Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer in a hydrogen balloon. 1932: -Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns in a hydrogen balloon. 1933-09-30: ; USSR balloon USSR-1. 1933-11-20: ; Lt. Comdr. Thomas G. W. Settle (USN) and Maj Chester L. Fordney (USMC) in Century of Progress balloon 1934-01-30: ; USSR balloon Osoaviakhim-1. The three crew were killed when the balloon broke up during the descent. 1935-11-10: ; Captain O. A. Anderson and Captain A. W. Stevens (U.S. Army Air Corps) ascended in the Explorer II gondola from the Stratobowl, near Rapid City, South Dakota, for a flight that lasted 8 hours 13 minutes and covered . 1956-11-08: ; Malcolm D. Ross and M. L. Lewis (U.S. Navy) in Office of Naval Research Strato-Lab I, using a pressurized gondola and plastic balloon launching near Rapid City, South Dakota, and landing away near Kennedy, Nebraska. 1957-06-02: ; Captain Joseph W. Kittinger (U.S. Air Force) ascended in the Project Manhigh 1 gondola to a record-breaking altitude. 1957-08-19: ; above sea level, Major David Simons (U.S. Air Force) ascended from the Portsmouth Mine near Crosby, Minnesota, in the Manhigh 2 gondola for a 32-hour record-breaking flight. Simons landed at 5:32 p.m. on August 20 in northeastern South Dakota. 1960-08-16: ; Testing a high-altitude parachute system, Joseph Kittinger of the U.S. Air Force parachuted from the Excelsior III balloon over New Mexico at . He set world records for: high-altitude jump; freefall diving by falling before opening his parachute; and fastest speed achieved by a human without motorized assistance, . 1961-05-04: ; Commander Malcolm D. Ross and Lieutenant Commander Victor A. Prather, Jr., of the U.S. Navy ascended in the Strato-Lab V, in an unpressurized gondola. After descending, the gondola containing the two balloonists landed in the Gulf of Mexico. Prather slipped off the rescue helicopter's hook into the gulf and drowned. 1966-02-02: ; Amateur parachutist Nicholas Piantanida of the United States with his "Project Strato-Jump" II balloon. Because he was unable to disconnect his oxygen line from the gondola's main feed, the ground crew had to remotely detach the balloon from the gondola. His planned free fall and parachute jump was abandoned, and he returned to the ground in the gondola. Nick was unable to accomplish his desired free fall record, however his spectacular flight set other records that held up for 46 years. Because of the design of his glove, he was unable to reattach his safety seat belt harness. He endured very high g-forces, but survived the descent. Piantanida's ascent is not recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale as a balloon altitude world record, because he did not return with his balloon, although that was not the feat he was trying to accomplish. On this second attempt of "Project Strato-Jump", Nick Piantanida took with him 250 postmarked air-mail envelopes and letters. At the time, these letters were the first covers to have ever been delivered by the U.S. Post Office via space. The habit of taking cover letters to space continued with the Apollo Program; in 1972 there was a scandal involving the Apollo 15 astronauts. It is unclear if any of the "Project Strato-Jump" covers survived, and were eventually mailed to the intended recipients. 2012-10-14: ; Felix Baumgartner in the Red Bull Stratos balloon. The flight started near Roswell, New Mexico, and returned to earth with a record-setting parachute jump. 2014-10-24: ; Alan Eustace, a senior vice president at the Google corporation, in a helium balloon, returning to earth via parachute jump during the StratEx mission executed by Paragon Space Development Corporation.

Hot-air balloons YearDateAltitudePersonAircraftNotesimperialmetric 1783 October 15 Pilâtre de Rozier Montgolfier tethered balloon 1988 June 6 Per Lindstrand Colt 600 In Laredo, Texas. 2004 December 13 David Hempleman-Adams Boland Rover A-2 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record for hot air balloon 2005 November 26 Vijaypat Singhania Cameron Z-1600 Vijaypat Singhania set the world altitude record for hot-air-balloon flight, reaching . He launched from downtown Mumbai, India, and landed south in Panchale.

Uncrewed gas balloon During 1893 French scientist Jules Richard constructed sounding balloons. These uncrewed balloons, carrying light, but very precise instruments, approached an altitude of .

A Winzen balloon launched from Chico, California, in 1972 set the uncrewed altitude record of . Its volume was .

On September 20, 2013, JAXA launched an ultrathin film balloon called BS13-08 made of 2.8 μm thick polyethylene film with a volume of , which was in diameter. The balloon rose at a speed of and reached an altitude of , surpassing the previous world record set in 2002.

This was the greatest height a flying object reached without using rockets or a launch with a cannon.

Gliders 5th november 1966 polish pilot Stanisław Józefczak with passenger Jan Tarczoń on polish woodmade training glider SZD-9 Bocian climb to 12560m over Tatry mountain in Poland On February 17, 1986, the highest altitude obtained by a soaring aircraft was set at by Robert Harris using lee waves over California City, United States. The flight was accomplished using the Grob 102 Standard Astir III.

This was surpassed at set on August 30, 2006, by Steve Fossett (pilot) and Einar Enevoldson (co-pilot) in their high performance research glider Perlan 1, a modified Glaser-Dirks DG-500. This record was achieved over El Calafate (Patagonia, Argentina) and set as part of the Perlan Project.

This was raised at on September 3, 2017 by Jim Payne (pilot) and Morgan Sandercock (co-pilot) in the Perlan 2, a special built high altitude research glider. This record was again achieved over El Calafate and as part of the Perlan Project.

On September 2, 2018, within the Airbus Perlan Mission II, again from El Calafate, the Perlan II piloted by Jim Payne and Tim Gardner reached , surpassing the attained by Jerry Hoyt on April 17, 1989, in a Lockheed U-2: the highest subsonic flight.

Early Fixed-wing Propeller aircraft Early, disputed attempts to fly or glide near the ground YearDateAltitudePersonAircraftNotes Imperial Metric 1890 October 88 in0.2 m Clément Ader Éole Uncontrolled hop 1903 December 1710 ft3 m Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright Wright Flyer Photographed and witnessed controlled flight, using rail and head winds 1906 19 August Traian Vuia Vuia I Hop of at a height of about 2.5 m (8 ft) was made, ending in a heavy landing which damaged the propeller, after takeoff from a flat surface, without assistance such as an incline, rails, or catapult 1906 October 23 Alberto Santos-Dumont 14-bis Public flights in Paris, using the Antoinette 8V engine, winning 3000 francs for a flight of 25 m (82 ft) 1906 November 12 Alberto Santos-Dumont 14-bis Flights up to 220 meters long, earning 1000 francs for a flight of 100+ meters

Fixed-wing Propeller aircraft Public, documented flights