That's absolutely correct, but launching above most of the atmosphere means that you don't have to design the rocket to take atmospheric loads. Light-weighting a rocket has a pretty big effect on the payload / rocket ratio which is good.
Taking X kg off the weight of a rocket typically means that you can take X/k (where k < 1) off as well because that was additional structure, fuel, or engine capacity that is no-longer needed to support what you've already removed. Of course, now that the rocket is even lighter, there's another round of mass reduction.
Don't worry kids, the series converges in a few iterations, but the point is that removing any weight from a rocket is a huge deal.
Taking X kg off the weight of a rocket typically means that you can take X/k (where k < 1) off as well because that was additional structure, fuel, or engine capacity that is no-longer needed to support what you've already removed. Of course, now that the rocket is even lighter, there's another round of mass reduction.
Don't worry kids, the series converges in a few iterations, but the point is that removing any weight from a rocket is a huge deal.