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MARRAKESH, Morocco (CNN) -- Blessed by good winds and good weather, British tycoon Richard Branson, Chicago millionaire Steve Fossett and teammate Per Lindstrand lifted off Friday morning on the latest effort to circle the globe in a balloon.

This was Branson's fifth try to be the first person to make nonstop the round-the-world balloon voyage. He wore a silver jump suit for the occasion.

The liftoff of the ICO Global Challenge from a Moroccan air force base was delayed by nearly two hours.

Entertainers from throughout the North African kingdom of Morocco were on hand for the event, singing, dancing and playing traditional drums, as if to help see the huge balloon into the heavens.

Moroccan helicopters were escorting the balloon through Moroccan airspace.

Branson and Fossett, who teamed up to launch their bid after several failed attempts with separate teams, were forced to postpone a lift-off on December 4 because of wet weather.

The trip is expected to take from eight to 18 days, and, with continued favorable winds, could take about 10 days, the group has said.

Their route will cross 20 countries, including Algeria, Libya, northern Iraq, Iran, India and Japan.

The crew on Thursday expressed confidence it could stay out of the way of the U.S. missile strike zone on Iraq, heading northward over Turkey.

Branson secured permission from 97 countries for overflights and had only four refusals -- Iran, Iraq, Russia and North Korea, said Mike Johnson, a spokesman for ICO Global, a mobile telephone company supporting the trip.

The tycoon of the Virgin group said he planned to enter the United States near San Francisco. "We're going to go under the bridge," he joked Thursday, referring to the Golden Gate.

Fossett has made four tries to ring the globe, the last one ending when his Solo Spirit was ripped apart in a violent storm off Australia.

Branson has tried, and failed, four times to become the first person to trek the globe nonstop in a balloon. The only time he managed to take off, in January 1997, his balloon crashed a day after takeoff, landing in the Algerian desert.

Johnson said the crew was more confident this time because of the better technology used to build the balloon, including a Kevlar canopy over the crew's pressurized capsule. Kevlar is used for bulletproof vests.

At least three other balloon crews have been waiting for favorable weather to launch their balloon -- from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Loves Park, Illinois and the Swiss Alps. Yet another team is to take off next month from Alice Springs, Australia.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.