Stratolaunch wing completed

[pattern_is_full]

I'm just not clear on why there is any mystery here. Air-drop launches as as old as the Bell X-1 and X-15:

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraf...ket-launch.jpg

http://www.sierrafoot.org/x-15/launch_large.jpg

and as new as SpaceShip2:

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...u_3094236a.png

Seriously....it saves a lot of parasite weight and drag if your payload vehicle doesn't have to punch through the densest ~35000 feet of atmosphere all by itself.