A self-funded entrepreneur has failed in his attempt to become the first Singaporean to reach the edge of space after launching his capsule from the Australian outback.

Key points: Lim Seng's Quantum 1 used a high altitude balloon to launch the capsule

Lim Seng's Quantum 1 used a high altitude balloon to launch the capsule The mission was aborted due to capsule depressurisation

The mission was aborted due to capsule depressurisation On landing, the parachute dragged the capsule across the desert "for an hour"

Engineer and entrepreneur Lim Seng attempted to cross the Armstrong line, the technical term for the edge of space which lies 20 kilometres above sea level, on May 31.

The 650-kilogram piloted capsule dubbed Quantum 1, which GoSpace said is Singapore's first space capsule, was successfully launched early on Friday using the same type of high-altitude stratospheric balloons deployed by NASA and Russia to propel it skywards.

But the mission had to be abandoned after 19 minutes of ascent at 24,000 feet due to a capsule depressurisation.

Even though Friday's attempt did not achieve their goal, Mr Lim has vowed to return to the Central Australian outback.

Central Australian launch spot

Lim Seng suits up for his launch in capsule dubbed Quantum 1. ( Facebook: GoSpaceSG )

Mr Lim chose to launch in the Alice Springs area due to its vast desert and flat land, and because of the available engineering and technical support to perform such a high-tech experiment.

The entire GoSpace project has been self-funded entirely by Mr Lim and relied on a team of volunteers for the launch.

Quantum 1 gets ready for launch in the middle of Australia's outback. ( Supplied: Lim Seng/GoSpace.sg )

"Normally you need a crew of 60 and we are doing it that morning with nine of us," he said.

The attempt to reach the edge of space had been more than five years in the making after an equipment issue thwarted the first scheduled launch in 2015, and poor weather conditions resulted in a failed launch attempt in 2018.

In 2018 the Quantum 1 capsule was to be piloted by a former Navy pilot, but this year a Mr Lim decided to pilot the mission after safety concerns were raised by his team.

"After hearing the engineers and the pilot I assessed that — just like anything else, and in particular going to space — there are imminent risks involved. And looking at the risks they do look quite scary," he said.

Mr Lim said the NT Government had been supportive, as had the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and AirServices Australia.

Up, up and away

The team was at the launch site two hours ahead of the 6:00am launch.

"We were squatting there waiting for the window, which was so well predicted seven days ahead," Mr Lim said.

"Then at that very moment of 6:45am we launched a stratospheric balloon and it was amazing because it's a very difficult task to do."

The initial launch was not a clean take off, leaving the capsule damaged.

"It was because of this very complex situation of what we call maintaining a zero velocity launch," he said.

"In layman's terms, you must have the balloon right above your capsule so that it is as if there is no velocity horizontally."

Entering the capsule, lifted by a same high-altitude stratospheric balloons deployed by NASA and Russia for space missions. ( Facebook: GoSpaceSG )

Mr Lim said the balloon was designed to double in volume "so as to punch through the troposphere".

"In short, this is to maintain the strong ascent rate of six or seven metres per second," he said.

"It was very fast because it is very important. You have to pierce through the atmosphere."

That is when things started to become dangerous.

In the fast ascent, Mr Lim rose 24,000 feet in around 20 minutes, and in conjunction with the damage to the capsule it left it unable to be pressurised.

"I immediately pressured-up the space suit and I did more than that actually. I pressurised it up very rapidly, and a lot," he said.

"Just to give a figure, I'm supposed to be pumping at four litres per minute. I pushed it up to 24 [litres per minute] because I had no time, and then it was flooding [my] suit with oxygen."

It was then that the ground crew decided to abort the mission only 12 kilometres shy of the target.

"Actually, surprisingly, I was feeling okay. I think it must be thanks to the space suit. I really wanted to persist because it was going up so well," he said.

"But I think the ground crew did the right thing in not cutting me immediately — for which they were briefed."

What goes up, must come down

If the ground crew had aborted the mission too soon, the landing would have been fatal for Mr Lim.

"Because we are just crossing 20 kilometres we don't deflate the balloon. We only do that when we are up above 40 kilometres," he said.

"So what we did was actually cut the balloon. Sounds simple, but it's quite complicated as there are four different ways of cutting.

"Then the parachute will take over. The parachute is designed just for this purpose — to bring hundreds of kilograms worth of capsule down at three to four metres per second."

Mr Lim said that the capsule did not make the planned landing zone at Owen Springs Reserve, but instead landed on a hill slope at Wallace Rockhole, 110 kilometres from Alice Springs.

"The landing was beautiful. I saw a lone tree. That was good news," he said.

"But because the parachute is huge — it has a 100 feet diameter — the ground wind dragged me across the slope for one hour. It was scary … I almost died four times."

Lim Seng emerged from the capsule after it was dragged along the ground for an hour by the huge parachute. ( Facebook: GoSpaceSG )

What you can do with egg cartons

Mr Lim said he had trust in the steel-framed Kevlar capsule, but it was a more surprising safety feature that kept him alive.

"We brought in a lot of empty egg trays," he said.

"The crushables — for example, a safety layer at the bottom of the capsule is made of expensive composite material and cardboard egg trays — is used to minimise impact during landing."

He said the capsule was not in a great condition after being dragged across the harsh outback for an hour.

"[But] the landing was amazingly soft," he said.

"I was very happy with the landing. It was like a very small commercial aircraft landing.

"The insulation was ripped off. But the integrity of the metallic structure and the inner vessel are intact."

Despite not reaching the technical definition of space, Mr Lim is hailing the flight a success.

But he admitted he cannot continue to financially support his aim to reach the final frontier.

"I really felt that it is a success because it really is. I really internalise the meaning of the attempt as more significant than the outcome," he said.

He said he hoped crowdfunding in his native Singapore could rejuvenate the effort "because I want this to be a publicly supported rather than private investment", he said.