FloppyRocket

Thanks for the suggestion.

In my limited experience, automatic fuel flow for asparagus staging can be a real beast to set up, because it only works if you DON'T use symmetry when you originally added the tanks and engines. The fuel duct parts are a reliable means around this problem.

@GRS, no updates from me, the remainder of this challenge is beyond the combination of my skills and how much time / effort I'm willing to invest in it.

Completing survey missions using rockets is very challenging.

The game does its best to tell you what it thinks you want to know. It isn't always right.

I wasn't asking for help.

I never claimed it was efficient ("typical" was the word I used), and I also said said that there are infinite possibilities. I wasn't the one asking the question on this thread, just trying to be helpful. Needless badgering is one of the reasons that people avoid posting on the forums.

Just getting above 70 km isn't sufficient information - how fast do you want to be going when you reach 70km? The rule of thumb is that you need 3400 m/s to get into low Kerbin orbit (80 km). A typical launch might use 2400 m/s to get an Ap of 80km, then a 1000 m/s circularization burn. There are an infinite number of variations possible.

Do any of your probe cores have a built-in antenna? If not, did you add any antennas?

@Xt007, you quoted my message, but didn't add any reply. Notepad++ here also. I don't use it as an IDE, but it is a very good code editor.

I haven't been actively investigating this. Early on I tried some simple experiments to duplicate the issue from the original topic (i.e. sudden shifts away from the intended pitch curve), but I wasn't able to observe any abrupt departures from the planned pitch. The only curious thing I observed was that the rocket I designed also had pitch control saturation, but I chalked that up to the pitch curve being aerodynamically difficult for my specific rocket design to fly. I have seen PID integral windup before professionally. It was not a happy experience.

Nine "steps", perhaps?

The thing you don't need is the 3400 m/s that got you into Kerbin orbit. You dispel the equivalent energy in the atmosphere when you re-enter.

Note that the delta-v numbers in the chart are all vacuum delta-v, not the atmospheric delta-v you'll see by default in the VAB. You'll need to adjust the setting in the VAB's DV menu so that is shows vacuum delta-v as you design your rocket.

You're going to intercept the Sun any time you leave the Kerbin SOI. No plan is needed.