They are preparing to lift-off from Albuquerque to Almeria, Alice Springs to Marrakech, Illinois to Berne, Santiago to South Africa. But the eight round-the-world balloon attempts have already circumnavigated the World Wide Web.

Here is News Online's guide to the heights being reached by the Websites supporting the different bids:

• Into orbit: The Cable & Wireless Challenge balloon will naturally have the benefit of satellite links to Internet users provided by the telecommunications giant and a live image from the capsule is promised. There is also a news ticker and a Kids section with the history of ballooning put together with the help of the children's publisher Dorling Kindersley.

  There are twelve different cameras inside and outside the gondola and the pilots will use them to compile video diaries for the site. There is also a 3-D tour of the gondola and hourly telemetry on wind speeds, altitude and position will be relayed.

• In the stratosphere: The ICO Global Challenge is sponsored by another communications company and is also a slick site with a Java version of a tracker showing the world map with the balloon's current position, altitude and speed.

  Although this could be the first balloon in the air, many of the sections are empty awaiting the start of the action. Pre-launch news is bang up-to-date with a Condition Red having been issued, indicating weather conditions are close to ideal for lift-off.

• Flying high: The Breitling-Orbiter 3 impresses with its English and French versions of the site. There is an interactive map, a logbook and a wind bulletin from Meteo Suisse promised. There is a contest to win five pilot licences and some handsome movies of the balloon. A message board is filled with good luck e-mails from supporters.

• In silver-lined clouds: The Team Re/Max site features a merchandise section - choose from pilot shirt, crew shirt, baseball cap, poster, pin and sticker. The design is basic but the content is informative with an explanation of different atmospheres and detailed diagrams of the gondola.

• In the ascendancy: The J. Renee balloon features the solo efforts of Kevin Uliassi, taking off from Illinois. It is backed by the Illinois Institute of Technology so you would expect a glorious site, but - like the attempt itself - this Website is humble and understated.

• Wing and a prayer: The Spirit of Peace has the nicest logo of the bids with a balloon and a dove of peace. There are photos and a log on this small-scale site and a balloonist's prayer asking for the crew to be set "gently back again into the loving arms of Mother Earth".

• Still on the ground: The Global Conqueror site is basic with sections on technical, equipment, the mission role, medical facts. As the launch is not scheduled till July next year in South Africa, there is plenty of time for improvement and for a backer to turn up to fund a better Website.

• Searching for sponsorship: Also scheduled to set off in July 1999, from South America, the World Quest site suggests an urgent need for funds. It offers visitors a chance to join the team - as a member of the pit crew for $10, sponsoring the balloon envelope at $60 per inch or becoming a member of the Hot Air Hundred for $1,000.

Less fancy than all of these sites, but perhaps the best way to keep across the various record attempts is Joop de Wilde's ballooning links page. It lists all the attempts among scores of useful URLs.