You'd need a very heavy chamber to keep the vacuum balloon from collapsing.

Hook up a vacuum pump to a flask. It isn't going to rise as the air is pumped out. Edison's light bulbs did not float.

> You'd need a very heavy chamber to keep the vacuum balloon from collapsing.

That was my original question: is it technically feasible to make such a chamber from light enough materials (my first guess would be some carbon tubes supporting a carbon fiber tarp or something like that.

> Edison's light bulbs did not float.

One could argue that it was too small (of course I imagine making a massive lightbulb would not make for a good solid structure, also glass is heavy). A hot air balloon does not float either if you lest it too much.

This topic has been discussed for ages, but no feasible solution has been found as of yet.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_airship

It is worth noting that at a helium balloon's upper altitute, vacuum balloons would be more feasable as the air pressure allows thinner materials. Some sort of hybrid for say weather monitoring might be feasable.

Partial vacuum on a steel railroad tank car, for comparison.

https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=Zz95_VvTxZM