The Malta 2021 Stratospheric Balloon was a stratospheric upper-atmosphere weather balloon launched on 13 August 2021 from the Esplora Complex in the small, island-nation of Malta.[1][2] A false-advertising campaign before the launch stated that the balloon would be a "space balloon"[3] despite the fact the stratospheric balloon only climbed to 37 kilometres (23 mi), 63 kilometres (39 mi) short of the Kármán line.[4] The launch succeeded an earlier, failed launch in which the balloon detached from its sensory payload due to an imbalance of forces acting on the balloon.[5][6][7]