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Weather Ballons can't go beyond the atmosphere because they utilize the differential in density between the atmosphere outside the balloon and the gas inside.

>>Wester+(OP)
The point is to illustrate the difference between going up and down, vs going into orbit (going sideways). Weather balloons go up many kilometers but they don’t go into orbit. They just go up and down. A ballistic missile, sounding rocket, or bezos pod does the same thing with a little more oomph.

Making a rocket that only goes up 100km into space and then falls immediately down again is hardly brain surgery.