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(screenshots inside) What is this? A gameplay add-on for Kerbal Space Program. The purpose is to transform the CommNet network of the single type into multiple constellations of different types. Major features: Make a group of satellites (a constellation) working together to archive a single purpose eg Global GPS, Ground-to-Air Communication Assign a vessel to one or more constellations Edit a ground station Colored connections and icons in Map View Built directly on KSP's CommNet infrastructure Many frequencies (up to 32,767!) to choose for a vessel or constellation Color Picker for "infinite" color choices User-friendly interfaces, included the sort and filter capabilities for the vessel list Bonus: Designed by a RemoteTech developer as a test bed on multiple features of RemoteTech 2.x re-development Why? Three reasons: In our real-life universe, we have satellite constellations of GPS, GLONASS and Galileo talking to their own members. So why can't CommNet have such feature? Every vessel in the whole network is talking to everyone within its root range model. This mod is a testbed for some features of the RemoteTech redevelopment project. (I am a member of the current RemoteTech team) Tutorials Frequent Asked Questions Mods required Module Manager Tutorials Basics and interfaces License GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 3 Download GitHub SpaceDock

Well, there seems to be a lot of dev info on Discord that did not make it onto the forums. Not that I've been asking about CommNet for months without getting any answers. Such is life for second hand forum citizens.. you're either on Discord all day or you don't get to talk to the devs. I can only thank providence that Dakota is still engaging with us here. Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:17 AM i hear there are some questions about commnet and im here to answer them if they're here Spork Witch — Yesterday at 2:18 AM yeah! I was asking about whether occlusion and vehicle links were implemented at this time. I was told occlusion / LoS is not, but that if there's a commsat in range, you'll bounce off that back to kerbin. Further, is there a distinction between transmit-only and relays? I notice we have all the old commsats, wasn't sure if they ALL function as relays now, or if there's still the same split of RA=relay, others are Tx only. Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:23 AM Generally All antennas are relays by default, they can bounce signal back (we didn't like this distinction) Line of sight is not a thing, there is only distance as a concern Connectivity between vessels is a simple matter of ensuring that they both have antennas that have ranges that qre equal or greater to the distance between them. So if 2 satellites are 100 km apart, they both most have antennas of rating 100 km or higher to connect Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:26 AM Commnet and occlusion was extremely forgiving by default settings in KSP1 and we didnt feel there was a significant difference between soft occlusion and no occlusion for EA launch. Lots of the depth people would want requires a set of supporting visual and planning tools that are a fair bit of work to design and build Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:32 AM I think there's a thing I wrote in a devblog of everyone playing KSP with different goals in mind - everyone has a thing they prefer, whether it is building vessels, making comm networks, etc. We can always take player feedback into account in driving plans and make changes at that point. Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:33 AM dev hat off, I hate commnet and always turned it off in KSP1 Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:34 AM I mean that goes back to need - a question we always need to answer is that, given all the ways people play the game, should you 'need' to do any particular thing? That could significantly impact what someone else wants to do. It's a fine line Spork Witch — Yesterday at 2:37 AM which is why it was always a toggle, but KSP is also about education. Learning about line of sight communications, and the need to set up satellites in particular orbits is a REAL WORLD learning thing, and also an orbital mechanics one, a core focus of KSP. The easiest way to properly position satellites is to launch them all at once, using resonant orbits. Without this constraint, from occlusion, you remove the one thing in the game that would actually direct someone to learn about these things. Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:39 AM Yep, understood Nertea, Destroyer of Fun — Yesterday at 2:35 AM I think I could say with some confidence that increasing commnet complexity has to come with more viz and planning tools Nate Simpson — Yesterday at 2:39 AM A lot of us like all the detailed line of sight/relay features in Commnet and it's definitely a thing we want to revisit, but as always we're having to balance multiple priorities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ That being said, here are all the current antennas in the game, for comparison purposes:

KSP Visual Calculator Online calculator tool for Kerbal Space Program Delta-V Planner Click the planets and moons that you want to visit to get a total required delta-v number for the mission A mission can contain multiple checkpoints to visit, each on different planets, moons, and orbital situations (or surface landed) Also provides a step-by-step breakdown for each leg in the journey Shows the delta-v requirements for every possible trip combination (delta-v subway-maps only work when Kerbin is one of the locations) Configure custom preferences such as aerobraking at specific locations, applying a margin of error to your mission, or calculating the most efficient route instead of a direct route Save & export the mission as a JSON file to share with others CommNet Planner Create satellites, relays, rovers, stations, bases, etc. with a custom selection of antennae, then drag those around the screen to see where commnet connections are valid Every craft automatically indicates if it has control or not based on the relay networks it is connected to Use this to plan out communication network constellations, without having to trial-and-error this in-game Set the DSN Tracking Station level at Kerbin to match in-game upgrade progress Set the CommNet difficulty settings to match the settings in-game Add Remote Guidance cores in craft to test a piloted base providing remote control to a rover, even when a connection to Kerbin is out of reach Shows detailed stats such as cost, power rating, mass, transmission speed, etc. for the entire collection of antennae on each craft Save & export the constellation as a JSON file to share with others ISRU Mining Station Calculator Design a mining base by swapping out different parts to see their effects on the system Select the planets or moon for the mining base, adjust the ore concentration, and even add a specific skill engineer onboard Toggle the type of processing that the ISRU will be doing. Only refining Liquid Fuel? Then only turn on Liquid Fuel refining Fuel cells, solar panels, and RTGs can be added for power supply A handy 'Production and Consumption' panel displays the total outputs, and any deficiencies of the system Number sliders control the amount of each part. Use this to adjust the amount of drills, or power sources, or radiators until the outputs are green with no deficiencies Warning messages highlight potential issues in the design, such as not having 'Ore Storage' parts Choose from 73 stock parts Save & export the parts selection design as a JSON file to share with others https://ksp-visual-calculator.blaarkies.com/ Checkout the github repo

Hey guys I have a solar probe with a Communotron 88-88, a Starlink relay network around Kerbin, and a giant relay rover about 2 km north of the KSC. I expected the comms to go either via relay then to a station or via the Relay rover to the KSC. What ended up happening was the comms came from Harvester Massif via a satelite, went through the planet to the rover, then finally yo my solar probe. Sometimes this also happens on rockets that have Communotron 16s, and that decreases signal significantly. Can someone please explain to me what is going on and how to fix it?

Any challenge beyond the base “fly to Planet X, return to kerbin” is self inflicted, and with almost 400 hours of play time, this is becoming more and more apparent as I play. This game has so much potential and I would hate to see it missed. Ksp 2 is missing a lot of more minor features that were present in ksp 1, that really add a lot of enjoyment to the game through interesting design challenges. Most notable ones from the top of my head: -kerbal levels -kerbal roles -probe core levels -kerbal G force limits -part pressure limits -reentry plasma blackout -comment occlusion While fairly minor additions, and potentially only difficulty options, these add a lot of interesting challenges when it comes to designing a craft, and flying mission profiles. These features are minor additions compared to science or reentry, but they a huge amount of gameplay through making the player design their way around these challenges, and they elevate the game beyond just flying from A to B. Kerbal levels: incentives the player to bring more kerbals with them, and to rescue those that are stranded. Brings a sense of physical loss on top of the present emotional loss when a kerbal lithobrakes too hard. Currently bringing more than one kerbal is at your disadvantage, and rescuing one brings you no gain, using probe cores makes no logical sense. If I lose a kerbal, the ksc has an infinite stock of free ones at my disposal. If jeb is my only 5 star kerbal and he gets stranded, it is my highest priority to go rescue him; I want to bring more kerbals with me to level them up, so if one is lost, it doesn’t cripple my agency. Both cases encourage me to design unique landers, that I otherwise would not build. Higher level kerbals increase the stakes of a mission, lower level kerbals increase the difficulty; completing both missions have a higher sense of accomplishment than the current game. This is something independent of science mode, and could even work well in sandbox mode. Kerbal roles: Gives more personality to a given kerbal, creates more incentive to bring more kerbals with you. Pilots have manoeuvre node access, scientists can run experiments multiple times, engineers increase part efficiency. I am reminded of the time I few a mission with no sas because I wanted to bring a scientist, so I could do experiments multiple times; was one of the hardest missions I flew, and some of the most fun I’ve had in the game, something that is lost. This would require a bit of a rework of the current science system though unfortunately, but I think it would be well worth it. Probe core levels: greater sense of advancement through the tech tree. Currently a probe unlocked at tier 4 is no better than one unlocked in tier 1, defeats the purpose of even having any other probes. Flying low tech probes makes you appreciate the high tech ones. Kerbal G force limits: Adds a fun layer to flying crafts and even aggressive reentries. The G force indicator and even Kerbal animations are already in place, they just need to have some actual gameplay function now. Part pressure limits: Makes jool and deep ocean expeditions dangerous, could have higher science payouts as a trade off, potential for specialised parts, similar to the u-dunk-it science part. Reentry plasma blackout: Added layer of realism to probes, extra satisfaction when control is regained. Teaches the player to build stable reentry crafts, and also teaches them about a real life phenomenon. Commnet occlusion: intuitive way that probes function, visual indication of how far a relay can reach. Intricate commnet constellations are lost since a single high power relay is basically all the comms set up you’ll ever need for the whole save. Ksp has always been about designing solutions to challenges presented by the laws of physics. I worry that these are being simplified in an attempt to make on-boarding easier. It would be disappointing to not see these features added before 1.0

KSP CommNet Signal Strength Calculator & Antenna Selector Stock + OPM System: Link (When you open the links above, please save a copy to your own Google Account to be able to edit for yourself) This document allows you to view the antennas utilized by CommNet to aid you in the preparation for missions to specific bodies or to determine signal strengths between vessels before launch. ----------------------------------- Antenna Selector Sheet The 'Antenna Selector' sheet allows you to pick enter a specified range between vessels and enter which antennas you require to give you a signal strength that is suitable for the application. You can also get a visualization of the signal strength between all major celestial bodies with the currently entered antenna setup. There is also a separate sheet for use with Near Future: Exploration's reflector mechanic. ----------------------------------- Antennas Sheet The 'Antennas' sheet allows you to view all the antennas listed by the creator/mod pack grouping and all their individual statistics. Here you can enable/disable the antennas from the mods you are using. ----------------------------------- Systems Stats Sheet The 'System Stats' sheet lists details about all the available bodies to chose from if you wish to make your own calculations or assumptions. ----------------------------------- Form Submission I have included a link on the 'Antennas' sheet to a Google Form where you can submit details of antennas you wish for me to include on the spreadsheet. The submissions should auto-fill into the 'Form Submissions' sheet for later review. Useful for mod authors to submit their own CommNet module stats for their antenna parts. ----------------------------------- Please let me know what you think, any mistakes I have made, any ways I can improve this etc. etc. Hopefully you find this useful for your own games. KSP CommNet Antenna Selector - Stock + OPM System: Link P.S. This document was built off of my original KSP RemoteTech Antenna Selector document, if you are interested in RemoteTech, please visit the forum post for this calculator: Link ----------------------------------- For great visualizations of the antenna ranges at the various DSN levels, also be sure to check out @Kergarin & @wile1411's illustrations that can be found here. They are super useful.

I noticed a bug where Iose commnet connection after undocking, if I keep it undocked and quicksave, then load the save the commnet connection is restored

I just remembered that this isn't a feature in KSP 2 yet. Any guesses on when this will be added? (probably not for the first couple of patches) Same time as re-entry heating maybe, or that it'll be when science mode is released

After docking with another spacecraft the CommNet (even if not required from Settings) loses the signal and the ship begins to spin out of control. During launch, the next stage is launch the Escape Tower System: I press spacebar and works, but after few seconds, the ships begins to go out of the screen and loses the control.

I really like the idea of seeing the range of the antennas. In my opinion something like this should be in KSP2 (of course the circles should be spheres). This is from the KSP1 mod called Antenna Helper.

Not 100% sure this is the right place to post this, but I created a single-use widget for calculating resonant orbits to deploy satellites into a circular orbit at regular intervals along that orbit. It’s at http://meyerweb.com/eric/ksp/resonant-orbits/. In case you’re wondering “what the heck is this?”, a resonant orbit is most commonly used to set up CommNet constellations around non-Kerbin bodies. Suppose you want to put three relay satellites into circular polar orbit around Minmus. You could launch them one at a time from Kerbin and do all kinds of shenanigans to get them into a common orbit (say, 100,000 km above Minmus) at 120-degree intervals along that shared orbit. Which requires matching inclination and LAN and all manner of stuff, and then trying to jostle them into the right places along the circle. Or, you could build a carrier craft that hauls three satellites to Minmus, then release them one at a time. That solves inclination and LAN problems, but what about timing? The easiest thing is to put the carrier craft into an eccentric orbit with its periapsis at the altitude the satellites should share, and an orbital period 4/3rds the length the satellites will have in their circular orbit. In this example, the satellites’ final orbits at 100,000m above Minmus will have a period of 2 hours, 39 minutes, 29.5 seconds. So you put the carrier into an orbit with a periapsis of 100,000m and an apoapsis of 167,652.4m. That has an orbital period of 3 hours, 32 minutes, 39.3 seconds—exactly 133% the orbital period of the circular orbit. Having done that, you just release one satellite from the carrier as it passes periapsis on each of three successive orbits. Hey presto! You now have three satellites in a polar triangle, sufficient to cover the entirety of Minmus and maintain a network back to Kerbin. Quick, deorbit or otherwise move the carrier’s orbit so it won’t smack into the first satellite you released on its next periapsis. I built some spreadsheets to manage the necessary calculations for myself, but it seemed more fun to build a web-based tool that could draw a diagram of the orbits and all that while also spitting out exact Ap and Pe altitudes. And, while I was at it, show the minimum altitude for a functioning three-satellite setup as well as the edge of the SOI for whatever body I was trying to put satellites around if my orbits were large enough to be a problem, show atmospheres (where applicable), tell me the dV I’d need to inject each satellite into its final circular orbit, and stuff like that. It looks like this: It’s of fairly limited use, but it was fun to make and it supports stock as well as RSS and GPP. I figured if someone out there could make use of it, that was good enough for me to release it. Share and enjoy! (P.S. If anyone has feature requests, I’m happy to hear them, though I may not get around to actually doing them. I mean, I might do them, but I have a tendency to toss these little projects into the wild and then get distracted by some new project and never go back to update the old ones. So fair warning and all that.)

This mod adds signal delay for probes in KSP, based on their CommNet connectivity. It means that you will only see the commands you issue after the radio wave reaches the vessel and returns back. Controlling interplanetary probes gets harder but more realistic. Antennas also now use Electric Charge (when deployed) for telemetry. The lower the signal strength (only the first link counts), the higher EC usage. All the features can be adjusted via in-game Settings. Quickly disable or enable the mod by clicking the toolbar button. Download latest release Source Status The mod is in beta. Please report bugs via the GitHub Issues tab or at the forum and attach the output log. Required / Supported Mods Module Manager - required for EC usage feature Blizzy's Toolbar Bluedog Design Bureau CommNet Antennas Extension DMagic Orbital Science Dynamic Battery Storage Global Construction JX2Antenna Kerbalism kOS - terminal is supported, but all the commands are implemented without delay. You may use WAIT command to simulate delay. Near Future Exploration Pathfinder (WBI) Probes Before Crew RemoteTech Redev Antennas ReStock+ Surface Experiment Pack (SEP) Tantares USI Kolonization Systems (MKS) Known Issues The mod doesn't handle part actions (e.g. experiment deployment), so they are not delayed. If you find it cheaty, you can choose to hide them, in the Settings, and use action groups instead. RCS linear translation (HNJLIK keys) is not supported at the moment. I haven't figured out how to execute these actions. Autopilot and similar mods (such as MechJeb) also have no delay, because they interact with the vessel directly. This mod conflicts with CommNet Constellation and, potentially, any other mod that changes the way CommNet works. Do not install more than one such mod! License: MIT Enjoy the mod? Buy me a coffee! Video: Change Log:

Having played with KSP on hard mode, I found it quite annoying that you don't get full CommNet coverage of Kerbin when you are in orbit unless you are very high. I kept losing control of vessels with only probe cores when I was launching or attempting to do a re-entry burns, so I thought that I'd create a map so I could see the altitude you need to have CommNet a signal when in hard mode (or when you've set the Occlusion Modifier to 1.0). I ended up creating two, one for orbital heights (75km to 250km) and one for surface heights (10m to 60km). Each colour patch indicates where there is no CommNet signal at a given altitude. The most interesting bit is that there is a large CommNet blackspot East of the KSC, just about the place that you might be attempting to circularise and it goes very high, this means that launching a vessel with just probe cores onboard really needs a relay satellite to be in place first. Looking at the map, it looks like an initial relay satellite might be best launched into a polar orbit giving you much more time (via North Station One) to circularise before you lose connection. I've done a bit of testing and it does seem to match the reality of the game. Hopefully these will be helpful to people Orbital Heights Large (4096 x 2048) and Small (1024 x 512) Surface Heights Large (4096 x 2048) and Small (1024 x 512)

I have a bit of a dilemma here I could either go with remote tech and have the following mods with it and reasons why I like it. 1) Time Delay, 2) 10km EVA kerbal antenna, 3)Remote Tech Contracts, 4) KOS would work fine for the time delay. For Commnet I would use 1) Science Relay so I can send science to a science lab on a space station orbiting above 2) Commnet Constellations for better organization of signals 3) Works with my mods kerbal health so I get the perk of being connected to home Con is there is no time delay so there is no challenge or real use for KOS being used. I would like a second opinion on these thank you.

I’m constructing my solar commnet, and am currently at Duna. I need precise orbital info, unfortunately, it just shows me LOCKED. I would expect this with bad signal or a weaker probe core, but i’m using the 2.5m one and my signal strength is 96% bouncing through Relay 3, 2, and my refueling/comms station before going to the KSC. It says unloaded on them which I imagine doesn’t make much of an impact, but I don’t know.

A lot has changed since I last posted here. I've now set myself up with a PC and installed a number of mods, including Galileo's Planet Pack (which is terrific, by the way). The pack adds many new outer planets, unreachable with stock antennas, so one of the R&D nodes adds antenna upgrades for the Communotron 88-88 (the umbrella one) and the largest of the relay dishes, which are now rated for 1.00T instead of just 100G. Ever since I researched this node, the CommNet just breaks every time I launch a vessel from the VAB. The craft on the launchpad has no connection to the space center whatsoever. I go to the Tracking Station and the CommNet lines are gone. The logs are absolutely filled with spam, but here's one section: [EXC 19:26:17.574] ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Index was out of range. Must be non-negative and less than the size of the collection. Parameter name: index System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException (System.ExceptionArgument argument, System.ExceptionResource resource) (at <ad04dee02e7e4a85a1299c7ee81c79f6>:0) System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentOutOfRangeException () (at <ad04dee02e7e4a85a1299c7ee81c79f6>:0) PartModule.ApplyUpgradeNode (System.Collections.Generic.List1[T] appliedUps, ConfigNode node, System.Boolean doLoad) (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) ModuleDataTransmitter.CommPowerUnloaded (ProtoPartModuleSnapshot mSnap) (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) CommNet.CommNetVessel.UpdateComm () (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) CommNet.CommNetVessel.OnNetworkPreUpdate () (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) CommNet.CommNode.NetworkPreUpdate () (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) CommNet.Network.Net4[_Net,_Data,_Link,_Path].PreUpdateNodes () (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) CommNet.Network.Net`4[_Net,_Data,_Link,_Path].Rebuild () (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) CommNet.CommNetwork.Rebuild () (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) CommNet.CommNetNetwork.Update () (at <2afc64dea36946459d4707808bdac511>:0) UnityEngine.DebugLogHandler:LogException(Exception, Object) ModuleManager.UnityLogHandle.InterceptLogHandler:LogException(Exception, Object) UnityEngine.Debug:CallOverridenDebugHandler(Exception, Object) The post linked below details a similar issue, but doesn't give a solution to the problem. Can anyone help me fix the problem?

I have a strange problem that I can't figure out what is causing it. I have added the extra ground station setting in the advance options. However, when looking for them in the tracking station I just see a little red x that tells me I need to build a ground station there. That's all well in good but I am not sure how to do that! clicking on it doesn't do anything. I am not even sure if this is default how its supposed to work. Since I have been out of the Commnet loop for a bit playing with RT. I think the mod that is causing this is either Kerbalism, or Kerbal Konstructs/ Kerbinside Re. If its not then I can upload a list of all my mods here if that would help.

What is this? A lightweight interface add-on for CommNet of Kerbal Space Program. What does it do? This add-on adds RemoteTech's MultiPath mode to the CommNet visualisation of connections. This mode is to display all working connections of every vessel in the game. Just click the 'Network' button in Tracking Station or Map View to change the visualisation mode of CommNet. Why? Useful mode without installing CommNet Constellation (also have same mode) Useful resource for other modders to look and add other CommNet modes Mods required Nope. It is a DLL file. License GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 3 DOWNLOAD Github SpaceDock

Having been discussing this, and slowly fleshing out the idea further, I would like to suggest a set of level 4 upgrades for each of the KSC facilities should be available, as well as (as a reach-goal) some way to upgrade the alternative launch sites (the Desert Runway needs an upgrade to its length/width/surface, in particular). Why: - Gameplay progression and "reach" goals for longer-running campaigns by more advanced players (although, these should not be out of reach of any player, they should require even greater Funds cost than the lvl 3 upgrades). - Rule of Cool. Bigger and more impressive facilities are a worthwhile goal in themselves, if it doesn't harm immersion/fun. - Realism. Real space centers, like Kennedy Space, took DECADES to reach their current size/scale. - Mods. Some of the features these level 4 facilities would provide would make some of the harder mods- such as Real Solar System scale-up's, a bit more playable on Career without having to tweak the Difficulty settings yourself. What the upgrades do/ look like: - Lvl 4 Launchpad. Somewhat bigger than the level 3 pad. Located a bit (maybe 10-20 meters) further away from the other buildings for range-safety of colosssl rockets if this is possible- otherwise the default distances should be increased 10-20 m or more (they are too small for realism, and increasing the distances a bit would add more of a sense of scale/size to the space center...) Maybe also adds a big, bare concrete pad nearby that still counts as Launchpad biome (100% recovery) for SpaceX-style recovery missions (the lvl 3 pad is an INCREDIBLY small taget to aim for landing on, and most players, except the truly crazy-skilled ones, just aim for anywhere near the KSC grounds for landing launch stages as a result...) - Lvl 4 Runway. Wider and longer than the KSC runway (currently 2.5 km long, the KSC runway in real life is 4.5 km, and quite a lot wider than the KSC one in game as well. I suggest at least 3.5 km for the level 4 runway, preferably 4-5 km). Maybe a bit thicker surface, for realism of handling heavier planes on it (could also justify then making the lvl 4 runway being a bit harder to destroy than the lvl 3 one). Wider runways will allow players to safely launch wider planes. The runway separation from the SPH should also be increased a bit (at least 10-15 m) for landing approaches of ultra-wide planes, range-safety of massive planes full if rocket fuel, and so wings of huge planes don't collide with SPH if players decide to taxi around near the SPH a bit. - Lvl 4 VAB. Larger/taller inside than the lvl 3 VAB, so players can see more of their tallest rockets (and have less of planes overflow the VAB when they merge really long shuttles/flyback boosters built in SPH, before attachment) without re-rooting of parts and constant shifting of the rocket stack. Larger exterior dimensions too, for immersion/coolness. - Lvl 4 SPH. Longer/wider internal dimensions than the lvl 3 SPH, for even longer/wider planes (having really wide planes that you can't see the wingtips of in the SPH is *particularly* annoying). Larger external dimensions for immersion/awesomeness/impressiveness. - Lvl 4 Tracking Center. Provides higher-powered DSN (so players have a better way to increase this with more immersion/coolness than just pulling up the DSN slider under Difficulty settings. I won't argue the necessityof the DSN upgrade beyond saying it'a both more realistic, and less obnoxiousfor players than building their own more powerful ground-stations on Kerbin and an enormous relay network just to provide stronger comms to Jool, or mods that expand the # of planets beyond Jool) and larger/more impressive-looking satellite dishes for the building. Maybe give the Tracking Center a proper parking-lot too? - Lvl 4 Astronaut Complex. Should provide a discount to astronaut-hiring costs (maybec10-20% off the base cost. 30%? 40%?) By the late-game, when you have a large crew roster, it becomes PROHIBITIVELY expensive to hire more Kerbalnauts (and forces players to just spam rescue-contracts to get more) or replace any lost crew members (w/o respawn). An option to refresh the current list of available hires, for a cost in Funds, for the lvl 4 complex (if you're going to spend a fortune on hiring, maybe you want a Pilot with better Courage, or a low Stupidity scientist? Helps with immersion/fun). - Lvl 4 Science Center. Purely a handout to modders. Lvl 3 center could be given a tech node cost limit beyond anything in the stock tree- allowing modders to lock parts behind a lvl 4 science center (which would remove all limits) for Career Mode balance and realism for futuristic parts taking even longer to obtain... Could possibly be disabled by default (but re-enabled under difficulty options, with a tooltip "just for looks in the stock gsme") if would annoy stock players. Could be larger/ more impressive than the lvl 4 center, so even some Stock players might use it, for coolness. Would of course also be default level in Sandbox/Science modes (so most players would still benefit from the cool model). - Lvl 4 Admin Building. Should come with a moderate (20-30%?) discount to buy-in costs for all strategies, or *maybe* add a few new, more powerful strategies (or allow existing strategiesto be set to 100%- with lvl 3 only going to 80%, and the strategies all being buffed a bit). Would make the game a bit easier if players bought it- but at VERY low Return On Investment (as the upgrade would be very expensive). Besides, most players don't use the Admin building much. This might give players a *bit* more motive to do so. Could also cone with a larger/cooler building model, maybe also a bigger parking lot? (To represent the increased staffing demands of a more mature apace program, and all the complex clerical work that makes modern space programs possible...) These are just ideas for what each of the lvl 4 upgrades could do- amd I'm sure other players could come up with even better ideas! This is a great game, and little improvements like this (or in the case of players who struggle with launching/landing enormous rockets on the puny lvl 3 pad/runway, BIG improvements...) would make the game even better. I don't expect everyone will agree with me on thos, or all the details, but I would like people not to be closed-mindef about this, or respond "there's a mod for that!". Thank you all for reading this! I think some lvl 4 upgrades, as part of the base game, would be a nice way to show appreciation for the KSP community- and by showing players the game is continuing to grow/evolve in a VERY noticeable way to any playthrough, would keep them involved- and more likely to consider buying KSP 2 and any future expansions for KSP as well...

Current Release (GitHub) This mod adds long-range antennas using stock assets to facilitate communications networks for planet packs larger than the stock solar system. This allows the player to extend, rather than replace, the stock antenna progression, making long-range relays possible without trivializing inner-system communications. The RA-500 weighs 1.3 tons and has range rating of 500 Gm. It has a 1.25m bottom node and fits in a 5m fairing (i.e. it's a 2x rescaled RA-15.) The RA-2500 weighs 2.6 tons and has a range rating of 2.5 Tm. It has a 2.5m bottom node and fits in a 7.5m fairing (i.e. it's a 2x rescaled RA-100.) The RA-12500 weighs 5.2 tons and has a range rating of 12.5 Tm. It has a 2.5m bottom node and fits in a 10m fairing (i.e. its a 4x rescaled RA-15.) As an incidental benefit, these antennas offer progressively better transmission performance than the stock relay antennas, particularly in terms of ElectricCharge consumed per Mit transmitted. The enormous size of these antennas demands an unconventional approach to deployment. Possibilities include: Off-world manufacturing via mods such as Extraplanetary Launchpads, OSE Workshop, or Ground Construction. Oversized launch vehicles such as AB Launchers (5m), DIRECT (5m & 7.5m), or SpaceY Lifters/SpaceY Expanded (5m, 7.5m, & 10m). To facilitate the simultaneous launch of multiple satellites, this mod adds stock fairings (including interstage trusses) resized to 5m, 7.5m, and 10m diameters. In case none of the above appeal to you, compact deployable versions of all three antennas are provided (via rescaling of the Communotron 88-88 to 0.625m, 0.9375m, and 1.25m.) As the new antennas are substantially more powerful than the stock Deep Space Network, three additional levels of the Tracking Station are provided via the Custom Barn Kit (not included.) These allow the player to choose between launching local relays or simply boosting the DSN. Level 4 of the Tracking Station costs 2,111,000 Funds and boosts the DSN's range rating to 1.25 Tm. Level 5 of the Tracking Station costs 7,916,000 Funds and boosts the DSN's range rating to 6.25 Tm. Level 6 of the Tracking Station costs 29,685,000 Funds and boosts the DSN's range rating to 31.25 Tm. This presents alternatives at several performance points to the excellent JX2 Large Deployable Antenna. These parts are generally cheaper and less massive than the JX2 for their range with the trade-off of being much bulkier and far less visually distinctive. As a bonus, I've included a half-scale version of the RA-2 antenna that has the stats of the HG-5. This alternate handle-free form factor for the HG-5 fits better on compact probe assemblies as small as 0.3125m. Also included for launching miniature relays is a 0.625m fairing; I recommend RLA Stockalike for 0.625m launch vehicles. Installation and Requirements To install, copy the files to your GameData folder. This mod requires ModuleManager (not included.) Custom Barn Kit is required for the extended tracking station progression, but otherwise optional. License CC BY-NC-SA

Hello everybody, can anybody explain, why I am getting 40% transmit bonus on science data transmitted directly from KSC launchpad? I am using only Comunotron 16(-S) antenna, transmitting Mystery Goo or Thermometer data and no other vessel or satellite is in the game. I haven't installed any game mod. I've read many wiki pages (of course https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/CommNet and https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Science) and I've searched for information here on forum and generally on the www, but all I found is that the transmit bonus applies only while transmitting through any relay antenna. I think that this isn't my case. I suppose the transmission goes directly from the vessel to the KSC. Can anybody explain what's going on here? Thank you!

What it does Adds a “Sleep” button to the part menu of deployable antennas, whenever the antenna is open. Pressing the button causes the antenna to retract… but it will then automatically re-extend a few minutes later, even if you have no control due to lack of communications. Default sleep time is 5 minutes. A slider on the antenna’s menu lets you adjust how long it will sleep, in half-minute increments. The antenna's menu displays a countdown timer while sleeping. Download from SpaceDock License: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 Source code How to install Unzip into your GameData folder, same as any mod. (Includes ModuleManager.) Why would anyone want this? If you’re playing KSP with the CommNet difficulty set to “Require communications for control”, this means that you completely lose control of your probe if it doesn’t have a communications link back to a control source such as KSC. This can make things tricky if you’ve got a ship that needs to do aerobraking or atmospheric reentry somewhere far from Kerbin, if the antenna you use to control it is a deployable one. If you don’t retract it, it will get destroyed by hypersonic winds. If you do retract it, it’s safe… but now your probe is an inert doorstop. This mod is intended to give you some interesting options for designing your probe. You can put your antenna to sleep before hitting atmosphere, and it will wake up again later on to (hopefully) re-establish control. How to use Use the slider on the menu to control how long the antenna will sleep. You can do this in the vehicle editor or in flight. While in flight, press the “Sleep” button for an extended antenna to cause it to retract and stay retracted for the specified duration, after which it will automatically re-extend. The menu displays a countdown timer while sleeping. If you happen to still have control of the ship while the antenna's sleeping, you still have the ability to manually extend it, same as always (which will cancel the sleep).

Probe: 3 OCTOs, 4 com-16 (3 functional) Relay satellite: 3 OCTOs, 3 RA-2 antenna level 3 tracking station The crafts are well within range of eachother. the relay sat has 100% connection to KSC. The probe just lost connection to the KSC minutes ago. It refuses to connect to the relay satellite. I'm getting really sick and tired of my crafts specifically interplanetary probes refusing to connect to relay satellites for absolutely no reason whatsoever, someone PLEASE TELL ME WHY IT IS NOT CONNECTING TO THE DAMN RELAY.

Hello, TL;DR: I'd like to know how to add (and remove) icons from the commnet panel (the panel where you see the transmission status, the kerbal-probe capable icon,...). I see a lot of questions on the web like "why can't I control my ship?", "I can't delete the maneuver node?",... And I see that the commnet icons are missing some important information and we can only see this by opening the resource tab to see there's no more electricity... Also the probe-kerbal capable icon is very confusing : the orange Kerbal icon could either mean "no SAS because no pilot" or "a probe is assisting so you can SAS but you can't do maneuver nodes"... Also a green Kerbal icon means full control but with xp activated a scientist is considered "green" although he/she can't SAS,... The goal of my mod is to remove this icon and add new ones Firstly : does a (recent) mod already adds commnet icons this so I could take a look at the code ? Secondly : I dug a little in the API, apparently a good hint is the TelemetryUpdate class, which includes sprites. So I suppose I need the Unity IDE to create them... Thanks for your help!