[amsat-bb] Thought experiment ... Rockets and balloons

I'm not a rocket scientist but I have an active imagination .....

Thinking of a recent XKCD .... to achieve orbit .... the hard part isn't the altitude it's the velocity ....

Would there be any advantage (cost effective) carrying a launch vehicle say to 37KM ... think Red Bull Stratos .... and firing the engines there???

So you're already 37KM up .... there's a lot less atmospheric drag ....

This would be like a drop from a plane ... but even higher ....

Thoughts???

de KA2PBT