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Mephisto Metalworks and Aeronautics. The Future is now. Link to Kerbalx-Hangars: https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/craft XR-Series: Go everywhere - Kerbol Exploratory Latest Version is the XR-06 Ranger Mk III SSTA with attached Javelin Eve Landerfor four Kerbals https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-06-Ranger-Mk-III-Grand-Tour-with-Javelin-Eve-Lander Older Version is the XR-02 Ranger Mk I https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-02-Ranger-XR-04-Agamemnon-SSTA-and-Eve-Lander Four different crafts in one package: Ranger is a powerful SSTA, Agamemnon is a lightweight Eve lander and ascent vehicle, Tycho is the final stage of the Eve lander and can be docked into Ranger's service bay. Brahe is a moon truck addon for Tycho. Both can fit into Ranger's Service bay. The XR project was built upon results the older X-84 Akkadian / Ishtar project: Fly to every moon and planet in the stock solar system as well as in the outer planets mod and collect science with three Kerbals. The take-off-weight of Ranger SSTA / Agamemnon Eve Lander Combo is 30 t lower than the Akkadian / Ishtar at 120t. XR-01a Tycho Space Sledge https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-01a-Tycho-Space-Sledge XR-01b Brahe Moon Truck https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-01b-Brahe-Moon-Truck XR-02 Ranger https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-02-Long-Range-Scout-Moho--Tylo--Laythe--Kerbin XR-03 Ninsianna Eve Lander and Ascent Vehicle (32t, for Beginners) https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-03-Ninsianna-Eve-Lander XR-04 Agamemnon Eve Lander and Ascent Vehicle (26t, for advanced Players) https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-02-Ranger-XR-04-Agamemnon-SSTA-and-Eve-Lander XR-01 a/b Tycho / Brahe combo XR-02 Ranger SSTA XR-03 Ninsianna Eve lander with 32t Ascent Vehicle XR-04 Agamemnon Eve Lander with 26t Ascent Vehicle XR-02 /04 Ranger SSTA with Agamemnon Eve Lander - 120t take off weight. Enough oooomph for every planet and moon. XR-08 Behemoth Multi Mission SSTA 30t to Minmus, 10t to Tylo surface and back (with ISRU...) https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-08-Behemoth XR-08 Behemoth with Space Station https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XR-08-Behemoth-with-Station Dolphin Mk V Mini SSTO https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/Dolphin-Mk-V XS-Series Extra Small to orbit: Small is the new big, thought the marketing guys. Here's to space on a budget. XS-01 Viper - upload pending- Viper is a lightweight, single use crew transfer system with a rapier and an ion stage. At 30 parts and 5.5t take off weight, it brings one Kerbal into orbit with 7.600 m/s dv left. This should suffice for most destinations in the Kerbol system. Fancy stuff like landing gears or parachutes is omitted. Just power up the engine and fly. TWR in orbit for the ion stage is 0.3, which is fairly reasonable. In order to not only bring pilots into space, it has drone core equipped. XS-02 Sparrow - upload pending - Sparrow is a light weight single stage to orbit concept with one rapier and one ion engine. At 6.3t take off weight, it brings one Kerbal to orbit regardless of profession. As the ion engine only has an TWR of 0.07 in low Kerbin orbit, getting somewhere is a game of patience. XS-03 Sparrowhawk https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XS-03-Sparrowhawk-RapierIon-SSTO-to-Minmus An improved version of the Sparrow, the XS-03 Sparrowhawk has significantly greater ranger and twice the thrust in low orbit. Now even with landing gear.The larger battery pack as well as the quad ion engines allow for sustained ion burns of app. 250 m/s. The TWR of 0.12 in LKO is fairly reasonable for ion engines. XS-04 All-Seeing Eye https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XS-04-All-Seeing-Eye The latest excrements in ore surveillance technology. Also knows your bad habbits and browser history. Comes equipped with ressource scanners, regular and relay antennas as well as repeateable science experiments. Powered by "a excrementsload of batteries and some spare ion engines", as the designers at the Kerbal Space Center put so eloquently. Comes with solar panels. Has roughly 15.000 m/s dV with ion engines, so evading it by moving to Dres or Eeloo seems kind of futile. Better use that incognito mode in your browser more often.... XS-05 Mighty Flea https://kerbalx.com/Mephisto/XS-05-Mighty-Flea-3t-Micro-SSTO 3t to orbit in a single stage. Kerbal included. No science experiments, no shenanigans. Mephisto. (To infinity and beyond.)

I'm having a weird issue in v1.10.1 where my SSTO is constantly bouncing up and down on the runway upon loading, and refuses to stop for minutes, if ever. If I try to take off, even if the bouncing seems to have stopped, it starts to drift off the runway within seconds, and I inevitably over-correct resulting in a crash. You can see how the game registers a speed of 0.1 or 0.2m/s, which is entirely due to the bouncing. I've flown this design to orbit and back several times, so I know it isn't a design issue (although my other, smaller SSTO seems to be unaffected). No idea what the problem is, it just started happening last night and I haven't been able to launch one since.

Hello all, After weeks of SSTO testing, and producing like 10 different designs, I've finally created my best design yet, the C-7 "snubnose" sat launcher ! A lightweight non-crewed spaceplane capable of getting a small mk1 satellite to LKO with ~350 m/s of delta-v to spare..... it could even launch 2 small sats at 1 time! Stable from take-off, orbital insertion and all the way back down to the space center. Fitted with airbrakes, a reaction wheel, batteries, and antenna. This design doesn't have the fuel capacity to meet up with a station and refuel for a longer mission, but I'm working on an interplanetary variant. I'll update when I have one. For now it's a cheap way to launch satellites capable of going all throughout the Kerbol system. Powered by 4 rapiers, it has a lot of power, up to 5g's of acceleration through Kerbin's atmosphere on the way to space. Here's a photo of it in orbit after having just released a satellite bound for the Duna system: This design for now is done. I'll be however working on another interplanetary design similar to this. any thoughts or suggestions appreciated PS: I'll update this thread with more pics and an interplanetary version perhaps, when I complete it. Safe flying!

Design a SSTO that uses propellers or rotors instead of jets during atmospheric ascent I like useful challenges, and I hope this one may be considered as such. The goal, besides challenging oneself, is to create a new type of SSTO that can explore atmospheres with props or rotors, thereby saving fuel and enabling the exploration of oxygen-free bodies, like Duna. This would enable a craft to biome-hop for science or transport resources much more effectively than slow rovers and fuel-guzzling rocket planes/landers can in said atmospheres. While these kinds of biome-hopping and transport crafts do exist, they don't seem to exist in reusable SSTO form, it seems. Props and rotors, unlike jets and intakes, also have the benefit of not being dead weight on Duna. So while props may offer worse performance on Kerbin, they'll pay you back during Duna ascent. Or at least, that's the theory. Requirements: No airbreathing engines. The craft must be capable of flight using rotor/prop power alone in the destination planet’s atmosphere, but you can obviously use rockets to get to and fly in space. Self-sufficient SSTOs only. So, ISRU mining is allowed, but no assistance from external ships (asteroids are OK). You may not jettison any parts other than payloads that don’t help the main vessel in any way. Normal difficulty or harder, but for convenience, you may ignore commnet—pretend a network is already in place. The SSTO must be useful in career mode. There’s no point in a spacecraft if you can’t bring any Science, Kerbals, or payloads along. Carry at least one kerbal (chairs allowed), OR if you wish not to carry kerbals, carry at least 0.2 tons of parts from the “science” category, OR deliver a payload weighing at least 0.5 tons. You may drop payloads once you are landed at your destination. If your destination is Jool, you may drop it low Jool orbit or into the depths of Jool. Payloads must be attached/detached using docking ports, not decouplers. No mods or part tweaks other than official DLCs, FAR, aesthetic mods, and piloting or planning assists. Challenge Tiers: Tier 0: "Proof of Concept" (Normal): Build a prop/rotor SSTO that makes it to Kerbin orbit. Must be capable of takeoff/landing in Kerbin’s atmosphere on rotor/prop power alone. Example: Reddit user u/chargan’s Orbital Chopper Tier 1: "Practical Problems, Sober Solutions" (Hard): Fly your prop/rotor SSTO to Duna's surface and back. Must be capable of takeoff/landing in Duna’s atmosphere on rotor/prop power alone. The challenge is simple in concept, but hard in practice. But, if you manage to accomplish Duna, there are other destinations to try, where almost no SSTO crafts have ever gone before... Bonus Badges: Within each tier, entries can receive the following awards. Ordered roughly by importance in career mode. (ISRU comes last as you are strongly encouraged to use it.) V: Heaviest payload delivered IV: Greatest tourist capacity (No chairs - tourists can’t go on EVA) III: Cheapest craft II: Lightest craft (Wet mass, excluding payload mass) I: No ISRU (Multiple entries can earn this.) Leaderboard: Good luck! If you have any trouble completing the challenge, browse this thread or just ask for help—there are many posts here with tips and links and instructions.

I would like to see some heat-resistant aerodynamic parts for the leading edges of shuttles and SSTOs, which tend to overheat. A shuttle nose cone and medium-sized elevons with a resistance of 2600K would be very useful.

I'm designing a couple of SSTOs and I'm testing them with different fuel levels for re-entry, to see if they are stable, but it is a hard thing to test, I remember installing Ferram Aerospace Research and it had a cool assistant that displayed some useful aerodynamic coefficients. What I'm looking for is a similar mod but for the stock aero model, I did a couple of google searches but couldn't find much.

So I've seen some mods with Spaceplanes such as the X-15, DreamChaser, IXV, GOGI, ISRO,Hermes, and X-24. But these are not modular like most ksp parts which kinda is not right since this game is a building game and most parts are modular so I decided to draw a concept for a modular spaceplane parts mod which fits in with the stock cross sections. The mod would also need custom landing gear as the stock ones don't really fit in as much.

Hi there, I am trying to get a SSTO build working, however I can't figure out how it will accelerate enough to get to orbit. I followed @Matt Lowne build on the beautiful SSTO, however my build will never get fast enough. It stops around 300m/s. So I tried his craft file from the video and it is even worse. ;-) So now I am stuck on how to go on? Adding engines only gives small increments on the max speed and probably would need 10 more rapiers to hit ~400m/s. Is it something with the aerodynamics? Is there a way to analyse that? I put my craft on pastebin: https://pastebin.com/WDympGyR Playing on 1.10.1 with Tantares, Habtech2, KIS, Kerbal Engineer, Docking Port alignment indicator.

This is the Development Thread. Bugs report here too. Already Released! Download Pre Release on Release Thread: Hello, Everyone. So, this is my idea, from child, I dream to fly one of these. A flying car. The name is OMICRON! Will be a flying space car with a foot on reality and other in near future. The engine will be in the same principle of Saber Vtol, and will accept stock rocket engines in the back, totally customizable. My attempt is to have the EVA and the IVA all together, i mean, the Kerbals will be visible inside the craft, and all windows/doors will be openable, more likely the stock seat, but inside the craft. The configurations you'll be able to do it, reach VTOL, SSTO. I'm not creating new engines to put on back, only the Vtol SSTO ones that show in the pics, on the side of the craft. Will update the new model pics when they starting get ready, it may be a little different from this ones from the old one. Evolved. List of things i still need to do (for full release): Extra functions on cockpit panel; Plate with 6 rockets and included legs; Ejection system for seats and windows; Parachutes; Wings; Rocket command pod with big windows; My intention, as it is a hobby, is to do with pleasure, no pressure. Cheers commanders. Omicron by Climberfx is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International p.s.: Here is the link to the original thread on Forum, but in Portuguese. You still can see the pictures, is more than self explanatory. WIP OMICRON Carro Espacial Criação das Partes

Having destroyed the engines on my landable launch-stages in Career one too many times because there is no landing leg in the game large enough to land a Mainsail (or in my case, a cluster of Mainsails) without either heavy part-clipping of the engines or putting the legs on the ends of wings (which is draggy, structurally-weak, and makes it harder to maintain aerodynamic stability during an engines-first re-entry), and had even more launch stages tip over after landing, I am BEGGING for some larger stock landing-legs. Nothing too fancy. Just BIG. Maybe a 400 kg mass leg part? (this should put it in the right size/strength-range for landing heavy launch stages with Mainsail clusters, or crewed round-trip missions on Eve...) To avoid this being a problem again in the future, as players move towards ever-heavier designs, I suggest 3 new sizes of legs: - a 400 kg landing leg part, for landing Mainsail stages - a 200 kg part, more for when you just need a wider base: such as landing tall stacks with small Reliant/Skiff engine clusters on the bottom. - An 800 kg part, for truly insane designs: like heavy Eve landers. Additionally, if there were more aerodynamic-looking versions of some of these legs (like the ones in Kerbal Reusability Expansion) that would be amazing! I'll take any/all of those, as long as there is a leg in the 400 kg size range. But the 3 options I listed above really would make things easier (and more realistic: the stock legs are far too small for the forces they can repeatedly withstand) and less frustrating for players... And once again, for those who feel the need to make such comments: "LOL, just add mods!" is NOT an acceptable answer. Having been playing this game for 6+ years, I have seen countless mods come and go: but Stock parts stick around, are available on Console, and are official content- giving more players the chance to use these parts and become familiar with them. KSP has given me great diversion, frustration, and (sometimes) joy over the years- but it could be so much more. Expanding the range of stock parts available is a move in this direction: and I, like many players, would even be willing to pay for another expansion with a sufficiently-large selection of such new Stock parts... (although honestly, given where player base opinion is right now on DLC, how basic this functionality is of having larger legs, and how many people have been fiscally harmed by Covid-19: now is probably NOT the time for this to be another DLC: it would be better to add this "free" and sell other new parts/features later...)

select plane size

What is/are the best intakes for a SSTO?

Hello once again! Today I bring you, My latest attempt at an interplanetary VTOL SSTO. When launched fully fueled, it can reach LKO with ~2,200 m/s of delta-V remaining. From there, it can be flown non-stop to Laythe and back, using ISRU to refuel on Laythe's surface. The design is oxidizer-free, and the fuel tank layout preserves the C.O.M. position regardless of fuel levels. The engine layout includes two forward-fixed Nervas, four R.A.P.I.E.R. engines (two forward-fixed and two pivotable), and two pivotable Panther engines. When flying in VTOL mode, it's easiest to set the throttle to allow for a TWR<1 while the Panthers are running dry, and a TWR>1 while running wet. This will allow some fine throttle control by switching the afterburners on and off during landing. When flying to orbit: 1) Once off the ground (via either VTOL or STOL to save some fuel), set the pivotable engines forward (AG1) with the Panther afterburners off (AG2). 2) Activate the fixed R.A.P.I.E.R. engines (AG4). 3) Cruise up to ~10 km before turning on the Nervas (AG5). While this is normally a tad too low to be using Nervas, the ISP should already be 700+ and we'll need as much thrust as we can manage. 4) Once all jet engines flame out, shut them down (AG3 + AG4) and continue to push to orbit on the Nervas. The TWR will be fairly low once you're running on the Nervas alone, so pitch up slightly to keep your time to AP around a minute. Eventually, when your orbital velocity reaches ~2,300 m/s you'll be safe to cruise to AP and circularize. Action Groups: AG1: Toggle VTOL engine pivots AG2: Toggle Panther afterburners AG3: Toggle VTOL engines AG4: Toggle fixed R.A.P.I.E.R.engines AG5: Toggle Nervas Gallery: I really hope y'all liked it, and if you want to try your hand at flying it, you can download the craft here: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Fenghuang-H-77 Also, check out my last build!

Hey guys , I know there are already a lots of tweets but i watched already a lots of tutorials etc... Well i tried to built a big cargo-SSTO. On ground it is good to turn left right but i have the problem that it cant take off I have built also another one but it has exactly the same problem. I can built planes i constructed the SR1-Blackbird and it worked well but SSTOS ... are not working ^^. One Problem i could imagine, is that the center of lift is not at line with the center of mass but I am still a noob in planes. I started 4 days ago to build planes xD. kind regards PS: i hope the pictures are there https://imgur.com/PG1H2RQ https://imgur.com/GmihCbH

Applies to KSP versions: 1.0.4 and newer. TL/DR: Among other things, this post explains why your reentering Space Shuttle replica and other winged craft can be unstable even though you built it with Center of Lift (CoL) behind Center of Mass (CoM). It also explains how you can improve general stability of any winged craft with Angle of Incidence (AoI), while at the same time making the craft very SAS friendly, and able to fly straight without SAS. The difference between CoL and Aerodynamic Center Longitudinal Stability, the ability of the aircraft to self stabilize, is attained by having the Aerodynamic Center+ behind CoM. +) The wikipedia explanation for how to calculate the Aerodynamic Center for an aircraft is in the spoiler below. I find it useful to imagine the Aerodynamic Center as an arrow that pulls backward in your craft, relative to it's movement, while the CoL pulls perpendicular to the direction of movement. Lift influences the Aerodynamic Center because, among other things, lift creates drag, but it is only a dominant part while the craft is pointed near prograde. When the craft points away from prograde other types of drag become dominant. CoL actually has less effect on stability, than either Center of Drag and Aerodynamic Center. The CoL actually needs to move to be able to control the craft. To pitch down it needs to move behind CoM. To pitch up the CoL needs to be moved in front CoM. Left and right for roll. And that is exactly what control surfaces do*. You can see this in action in the SPH. Create a simple aircraft mockup, with a handful of structural fuselage. Select the root part and Shift+S, to give it a little AoA, because that's needed for the wings to create lift. Add a couple of small wing panels with control surfaces in mirror symmetry as elevators, either at the front or back. Turn on CoM and CoL and add a couple of larger wing panels with control surfaces in 2x radial symmetry, and place them so CoL is on top of CoM. Using the Rotate Gizmo you can now directly see what really happens to the CoL, when control surfaces move, by rotating them slightly up or down. *) I'll ignore yaw for now. It doesn't contribute to CoL in the same way, because it's a vertical surface. In the SPH yaw is shown as a rotation of the CoL marker. As long as the Aerodynamic Center stays behind CoM, designing your craft with CoL in front or behind of CoM doesn't change aircraft stability much, even in KSP, it just changes how much control input you need to apply, to fly straight. And keeping the Aerodynamic Center behind CoM is the hard part. We can't see the Aerodynamic Center, and for many designs it is close enough to CoL, because large control authority can move the CoL to CoM, so that the CoL works OK as a stand-in for Aerodynamic Center, during design. But the closer then CoM is to the rear of the craft, the worse it gets. The Aerodynamic Center is now significatly in front of CoL. So even if CoL at design time is behind CoM, the Aerodynamic Center might be right on top of CoM or in front of it. This is why most people believe CoL needs to be behind CoM. And with the available information it is the right thing to do. Except it's not always enough. This is also one of the reasons why Shuttles in KSP are so hard to get stable, even when the CoL is far behind CoM. If the Shuttle isn't built to account for the invisible Aerodynamic Center, the mass and wings are often concentrated in the back, but that long fuselage, with lots of drag, pulls the Aerodynamic Center in front of CoM. The result is a lawn darting shuttle, because of CoL too far back, which at the same time spins out of control, because of Aerodynamic Centre being in front of CoM. This has led people to accuse the aerodynamics or the cargo bays of being bugged. Which is understandable given the information available at design time. Angle of Incidence (AoI) Most of us were taught how lift works with pictures like this. Pictures showing lift from cambered wing profiles without Angle of Attack. It's not completely wrong, but it's missing a big part. Most of the lift comes from Angle of Attack, not from the cambered shape. But because of how we were taught, we all have a tendency to imagine wings mounted parallel to the fuselage. On top of that KSP defaults to wings mounted that way. When really we shouldn't. And to make things even worse, KSP does not model wings as cambered profiles. Which means: Wings in KSP always need Angle of Attack to provide lift. By giving the wings "built-in AoA", Angle of Incidence, the craft can be pointed prograde while still creating lift. That reduces fuselage drag greatly. If you mount wings with no Angle of Incidence, then the fuselage has to point away from prograde (the direction of movement) in order to get the wings to create lift. This creates a lot of drag. Even in real life, wings are mounted with incidence. For the same reason: Less drag from fuselage. There is no one AoI that works for everything and it isn't necessarily most optimal to have the fuselage pointed directly prograde, because the fuselage can also contribute to lift (not just Mk2). But in my experience it is always better to have at least 1° AoI than none. Personally I use between 1-5° Angle of Incidence on my designs. I don't have any set rules, but fast craft and/or big wings, needs smaller AoI, and high altitude needs bigger AoI. For SSTO spaceplanes, I've had good experiences with designs that can fly at 0° pitch, without losing or gaining altitude near sea level at 350-400 m/s. That also means the fuselage is close to 0° AoA at the critical phase just above supersonic where drag is highest and the engines haven't reached maximum performance yet. My Solutions Until KSP is able to show the Aerodynamic Center, I use the rule of thumb, that CoM of the craft needs to be as close as possible to midway between nose and tail, and never closer than 2/3 of the craft length towards the tail. Not a very accurate solution and doesn't work for all designs, but it has worked OK for me. Additionally, I design my crafts so the forward most wing has more Angle of Incidence than those behind it. That works effectively as if the elevator has built in pitch, which you can use to move the CoL on top of CoM, without compromising stability. Here are some examples. A stable conventional design (craft file) The conventional straight wing design with CoM forward of the middle. It's a breeze to get stable with CoL on top of CoM, because the Aerodynamic Center is most often behind CoL. Nonetheless, this design has 2° AoI on the main wing to reduce fuselage drag, and no AoI on the tail plane. A stable canard design (craft file) Canard designs, the most prevalent type in KSP, probably due to the way engines are massed in KSP for the LEGO™-modularity and gameplay balance. CoM is often way behind the midpoint, which means the Aerodynamic Center will most likely be in front of CoL. If the CoM isn't too far behind, you might get away with initially designing it with CoL a good bit behind CoM, using CoL as a stand-in for Aerodynamic Center. Once you've tested that it flies stable, you can then add a little more** AoI to the Canard than the main wing, to move CoL up to CoM. If the CoM is far behind the midpoint, see the Shuttle designs. It will now be possible to fly the craft without you or the SAS having to constantly apply pitch-up. It won't reduce drag, but it will make it easier for you or an autopilot to control the craft. The shown craft has a fixed canard with 4° AoI and the main wing has 2° AoI. **) Only very rarely will it be required to have more than 2° difference between main wings and tailplane/canards in KSP. An unstable shuttle design A stable deltawing design (craft file) Shuttles and other pure deltawing designs, are the hardest to balance and require great care taken during design to make sure the CoM doesn't fall too far back. If the CoM is far behind the midpoint, you may be forced to redesign it. It might not be possible to stabilize it without adding dummy weights near the cockpit. Moving the fuel tanks forward might help initially, but instability could re-emerge when the fuel is spent. If the CoM isn't too far behind, you might be able to do something similar as with a Canard designs, by initially designing it with CoL a good bit behind CoM, using CoL as a stand-in for Aerodynamic Center. Again, once you've tested that it flies stable, you can then use the Rotate Gizmo to prebake the elevons with some pitch up, to move CoL up to CoM, to get the craft to fly without you or the SAS having to constantly apply pitch-up. The deltawing jet shown here, has 2° AoI om the main wing and the elevons have been angled up 2° from their default attachment angle. Additionally, the big wing strake has also been angled up 1° more than the rest of the wing. Test showing increased stability with AoI Edit 2016-03-01: Fixed some grammar and clarified a few sentences. Edit 2016-11-03: Added applicable KSP version. Edit 2016-12-01: Added AoI image. (source) Edit 2020-10-21: Format fixes as the new forum software made it apparant, that lots of old style formattings have been mixed over many, many edits.

KK-Prize signature badge here The KK-Prize challenge takes upon inspiration from the K-Prize challenge, and takes it up a notch. Your job is to make a spaceplane that can get to orbit, land, then achieve orbit again, and then land again. Basically, the K-Prize times 2. Please provide some kind of proof, preferably images or a video. All who succeed will be listed below, and extra kudos if you manage to complete one of the extra awards. Rules 1. No stages can be lost or detached, all parts must remain intact from the launch to the second landing. 2. All parts must be stock. This helps keep it simple. 3. May only use the fuel aboard the craft at launch, ie, no refueling via docking or ISRU. 4. Craft must come to a complete wheel stop before attempting second orbit. Extra Awards 1. Land on KSC grounds (picture required). Rangefinder Award 2. Land on the KSC runway (picture required). Sniper Award 3. Fastest time (before time and landed time required, MET). Speedster Award 4. Lightest craft (weight info required, weight must be craft fully loaded with fuel). Feather Award 5. Heaviest craft (weight info required, weight must be craft fully loaded with fuel). Brick Award 6. Half tanks (fuel capacity info required). Half Award 7. Cheapest craft (cost fully loaded with fuel). Cheapskate Award 8. Doesn't use NERVAs or RAPIERs (picture required). Purist Award 9. Exits Kerbin SOI at least once (picture required). Stargazer Award 10. Completes at least 7 other extra awards in one entry. Perfectionist Award Honor Roll @sevenperforce - first entry, kudos! Feather Award, Brick Award @ralanboyle - Feather Award, Sniper Award, Rangefinder Award @Pro100kerbonaut - Feather Award, Sniper Award, Rangefinder Award, Cheapskate Award Rangefinder Award @ralanboyle @Pro100kerbonaut Sniper Award @ralanboyle @Pro100kerbonaut Speedster Award @Pro100kerbonaut 1:18:01 @ralanboyle 1:18:47 Feather Award @Pro100kerbonaut 11.869 tonnes @ralanboyle 27.2 tonnes @sevenperforce 68.78 tonnes Brick Award @sevenperforce 68.78 tonnes Half Award Nobody yet Cheapskate Award @Pro100kerbonaut 17,970 funds @ralanboyle 46,290 funds Purist Award Nobody yet Stargazer Award Nobody yet Perfectionist Award Nobody yet Gatecrashers Dodged the Bouncers @Dman Revolution didn't read the title correctly.

2020 SSTO Fleet + Ground Support Vehicles! Hey Everyone! I haven't posted here in quite a few years, but now that I've gotten back into KSP, I wanted to share what I've been working on for the past few weeks. We all love Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO) spacecraft for their potential for re-usability, so I wanted to create a system that allowed me to legitimately process and relaunch them without recovering the spacecraft and relaunching from the SPH between missions. To that end, I developed a fleet of three SSTOs with a compliment of ground support and processing vehicles that can be used to fully refuel and prepare an SSTO for return to LKO with newly fitted payloads. The fleet consists of three SSTOs, two mobile gantries, three trucks, two trailers, and a crew transport buggy. SSTOs All three ships can reach LKO with between ~500 and ~1,500 m/s of on-orbit delta-V remaining depending on payload mass. All have forward-mounted docking ports and RCS thrusters for rendezvous, docking, payload deployment, etc. All are designed with a center of mass (COM) that remains stationary regardless of fuel levels or payload mass (to the extent that the payload's COM is in the geometric center of the cargo bay). The payload-carrying variants (Mk2 & Mk3) have been tested with maximum-mass payloads (I.E. a fuel tank that takes up the entire cargo bay). All can be de-orbited and landed fully "Dead stick". All have action groups to allow for engine/mode toggle, steering toggle, payload bay toggle, etc. Retract the forward landing gear on Mk1 and both the forward and aft landing gear on Mk2 when towing to allow for steering. Table 1: SSTO Spec. Summary SSTO Mk1 Mk2 Mk3 Max. crew 3 2* 0* Wet mass (t) (minus payload) 16.2 32.0 162.4 Dry mass (t) 12.2 24.0 73.3 Height (m) 3.8 4.4 6.0 Width (m) 6.4 10.1 13.4 Length (m) 13.2 23.0 37.4 Max. payload mass (t) - ~7 ~50 Max. payload length (m) - 4.9 10.0 Max. payload diameter (m) - 1.25 2.5 * Can be exceeded by housing crew in payload. SSTO Mk1 The smallest of the three, the Mk1 is the primary LKO crew shuttle. It has room for three, and can comfortably get from the KSC to LKO with sufficient fuel to rendezvous with an LKO target and de-orbit, but its payload is limited to crews only. The design is Liquid fuel only, so the RAPIERS are set to run on open cycle exclusively. The single Nerva is used to make the final push to orbit, circularize, and perform on-orbit maneuvers. The choice to go "no oxidizer" is partly for simplicity, and partly because the minimal-drag + high TWR RAPIER configuration makes the final delta-V needed to reach orbit low enough that it can be done with the Nerva. It also means that when fully re-fueled in LKO, the single Nerva will yield enough delta-V to go pretty much anywhere, without any pesky oxidizer/tanks to slow you down. When launching, set prograde hold with a ~20 deg elevation due east once you pass 300 m/s. The RAPIERS will take you up to around 1000 m/s at 10,000 km, at which point you activate the Nerva. Even though you're still deep in the atmosphere, the Nerva reaches about 700 ISP and nearly vac thrust at this altitude, plus we need to start our apogee kick early since the Nerva alone will yield a fairly low TWR once the RAPIERS flame out completely around 20 km. The time to apogee may start to drop back down once you're on Nerva alone, so nose up to keep it around ~60 sec until your orbital velocity reaches ~2,300 m/s, at which point you'll be safe to reach orbit after a coast to apogee and circularization. It has 4 linear RCS ports housed in the forward and aft mini cargo bays, which are set to toggle open/closed along with the RCS hotkey. SSTO Mk2 The midsize variant, the Mk2 can take a small payload to LKO along with a crew of two. Its fuel tank, engine, and launch trajectory configuration is virtually identical to that of SSTO Mk1, except with twice the RAPIERS and Nervas. Its RCS ports are contained within the payload bay, so it must be open for any RCS-based maneuvering. The furthest forward and aft tanks are empty; they are for structural/aerodynamic purposes. SSTO Mk3 The largest of the fleet, the Mk3 is a heavy-payload LKO shuttle. The design is RAPIER-only, and the vessel is unmanned. It can deliver an orange tank to LKO without much fuss. Launching is fairly straightforward; set prograde hold with a ~20 deg elevation due east once you pass 300 m/s. You should bottom-out on open cycle mode around 20 km and ~1750 m/s orbital velocity, at which point you switch to closed cycle to push your apogee up out of the atmosphere and reach orbit. Like the Mk2, Its RCS ports are contained within the payload bay, so it must be open for any RCS-based maneuvering. Mobile Gantries The piston array on Gantry Mk3 can be operated using the robotics controller on the side of the claw to ensure that all 10 pistons are operating in unison. Be careful when docking the claw to a payload on a trailer connected to a Truck. Back off the piston right after docking to ensure that the weight of the gantry doesn't force the truck + trailer into the ground and break their wheels. Mobile Gantry Mk2 This ground support vehicle can be used to transfer payloads to and from SSTO Mk2's cargo bay. It has a single XL piston and a claw to use for payload manipulation. Mobile Gantry Mk3 This ground support vehicle can be used to transfer payloads to and from SSTO Mk3's cargo bay. It has a compound array with 10 XL pistons and a claw to use for payload manipulation. It also serves as the primary refueling vehicle for SSTO Mk3. Trucks Trucks A and C have servos which allow for trailer pivoting. Simply unlock the servo and set the torque to zero after coupling. Use the piston before coupling to align the claw. Truck A This ground support vehicle can be used to tow trailers and SSTO Mk1. It has a piston-mounted claw for easy coupling, and the piston is mounted on a servo to allow for trailer pivoting when steering. The spring strength in the tire suspensions sometimes need to be lowered during payload loading/unloading using a gantry, as having Truck A connected to a trailer, a payload, and a gantry can cause the wheels to get a little... jumpy, especially if the gantry piston hasn't been relaxed after connecting. It can be used to tow SSTO Mk2, but this is best done when MK2 is empty after having returned from orbit. A fully fueled Mk2 + payload is best towed using Truck C. Truck B This ground support vehicle can be used to refuel SSTOs Mk1 & Mk2 (Mk3 is refueled using Mobile Gantry Mk3). Truck C This ground support vehicle can be used to tow trailers and SSTOs Mk1 & Mk2. It has a piston-mounted claw for easy coupling, and the piston is mounted on a servo to allow for trailer pivoting when steering. It can be used to tow SSTO Mk3, but this is best done when MK3 is empty after having returned from orbit. Best practice with SSTO Mk3 is to tow it to the runway while empty using Truck C, and refuel and add payload right before launch. A fully fueled Mk3 + payload can only easily be moved using its own RAPIERS and landing gear steering. Trailers Trailer Mk2 This ground support vehicle can be used to carry Mk2 payloads, when towed by Truck A or C. The distance between the two docking ports is slightly larger than that of SSTO Mk2's cargo bay. Trailer Mk3 This ground support vehicle can be used to carry Mk3 payloads, when towed by Truck A or C. The distance between the two docking ports is slightly larger than that of SSTO Mk3's cargo bay. Crew Crew Transport Buggy This ground support vehicle can be used to carry 4 Kerbals around the spaceport. Gallery SSTO Mk1 & Mk2 refueling SSTO Mk1 crew preparing for flight SSTO Mk2 Payload processing and flight SSTO Mk3 Payload processing and flight KerbalX Hangar: https://kerbalx.com/hangars/95963

Here's the story. I decided to build an SSTO that can carry a three-person spaceplane into LKO and leave it before landing at the KSC. That way, the spaceplane itself will be ready for its interplanetary burn with all its liquid fuel tanks full and I won't have to drop any debris on the surface. For an aerodynamic design concept, I viewed Matt Lowne's air-launched spaceplane video. Though I followed the video while building my plane, I made sure to add my own parts in my version (e.g. rapiers instead of airliner engines, reaction wheels, NERVs, more oxidizer for the rapiers, etc). I plan to get BOTH craft in orbit instead of sacrificing one for the other. Below is the image of my prototype (spaceplane included). I do not plan to change the spaceplane, so it's the carrier I need help on. STAGING SEQUENCE: 5: Carrier rapiers 4: Carrier NERVs 3: Detach spaceplane from carrier Attached via docking port 2: Spaceplane NERVs Should be separate from carrier by then. 1: Spaceplane rapiers 0: Spaceplane rear parachutes Spaceplane has ~4,952 m/s of delta-V with its oxidizer tanks (99%) depleted, so there's the reason why I want this to work so badly. Craft file: https://mega.nz/#!iSglSAKT!iyaMk3pM_rt1HMWtCXu4ROxektOhf-tsHE4Y5OqtBig While the appeal of this design seems awesome, the test results are anything but. For instance: My aircraft keeps sliding on the runway, even at maximum friction control. I can't achieve LKO. I did once, but I could not repeat it. More details on what happened later. Honestly, I forgot if it was this prototype or another one. Either way, I was lucky. The other times, I failed to achieve an apoapsis above 70 km before I got below 39 km (or whatever altitude you can't bounce back up from). When I did reach Ap=70 km, I couldn't get my periapsis up in time to avoid getting recaptured in the atmosphere. (IN THE ONE TEST RUN THAT I ACHIEVED LKO IN) My carrier plane lost control after re-entry, and I spun uncontrollably in the air. In fact, my tailfins snapped right off. I had a bit of trouble keeping this plane straight when the carrier's rapiers activated. More specifically, it wanted to pitch way up for a bit until its oxidizer supply was depleted. I then tried Matt's Stratolauncher design concept, but that prototype turned out even worse. When the rapiers switched to rocket mode, I rapidly pitched downward. The picture below shows the prototype in question. If I had to guess why, it's because of the three rapiers on the top being so close together What should I do for my carrier to work? What kind of design is necessary to function both with and without the spaceplane? Any and all help is greatly appreciated. If you want to try it out for yourself, feel free to ask for the craft file (aside from the one I posted here) One more time: the spaceplane shall not do anything until it is released from the carrier in stable LKO.

Hi everyone, I have been playing KSP for quite a long time now, let's say that for my first Mun landing there was only one capsule available, no landing legs and trajectory was planned "start your de-orbiting burn when you see sun just touching the horizon" times. I was quite passionate about the game back then. Recently I had a relapse, and begun playing with SSTOs. And to be frank I'm clueless on the cargo placement in the cargo-bay / cargo-hold (using the larges fuselage). Some times it works, some times it does not: I want to place a satellite with a rocket propelled stage, consisting of probe body, some equipment, clamp-o-tron jr, TR-18D stack separator, one FL-T800 fuel tank and LV-909. I have made it all into one nit assembly part, and the problem begun. It just will not connect to the interior: to the clamp-o-trons, to the separators, when the part snaps in place, its rooted deep inside a fuel filled fuselage part - not even its bulkhead. I have tried re-rooting, moving (it unfortunately stayed rooted and it just was "floating" in the mid air, still being connected. As a last resort, I have tried to rebuild the entire stack in the cargo bay, but it ended up in with similar problems, the funniest one being the engine separating within the separator and leaving a gap in the satellite's placement vehicle. I have searched for some time on info pertaining to this exact problem, but unfortunately couldn't find it on forum / on Scott Manley's channel etc. I would be most grateful for any help on that matter.

Since the first planes evolved, kerbals always wanted to ride them without flying them. Then, they were able too with the airliner. But ever since the founding of the Kerbal Space Center, kerbals have wanted to go to space without all the training. Well, let’s see if they can! CHALLENGE- Build 1 (or many) passenger SSTO’s that fit with the rules, categories, and qualifications. RULES- The craft must be an SSTO that takes off from the runway and lands on a runway (doesn’t need to be KSC, modded runways allowed). The craft must have pilot(s) and flight attendants unless stated. The craft must be able to land on and return from the destination. No mods or DLC’s involved in the craft. MechJeb autopilot not allowed, though orbital information and planners are allowed. Visual and informational mods allowed. No cheating with hyperedit, debug menu, etc. Craft must be of your own design. Please post the craft launch cost (cost displayed in SPH minus amount gained in recovery). When posting, please put your: company name, type of category, launch cost, passenger/crew/pilot count, and Delta V amount. Also include at least 3 pictures proving the functionality of the craft. CATEGORIES- Private SpaceLiner: 2-6 passenger capacity, 1 crew, 1-2 pilots. Destinations- Mun, Minmus, Gilly, Ike. Small SpaceLiner- 12-36 passenger capacity, 2 crew, 2-3 pilots. Destinations- Mun, Minmus, Gilly, Ike, Duna, Dres. Medium SpaceLiner- 37-55 passenger capacity, 3-4 crew, 2-3 pilots. Destinations- Mun, Minmus, Gilly, Ike, Duna, Dres, Eeloo. Large SpaceLiner- 56-125 passenger capacity, 5-7 crew, 3-4 pilots. Destinations- Mun, Minmus, Gilly, Ike, Duna, Dres, Eeloo, Pol, Bop, Val. Huge SpaceLiner- 125-250 passengers, 6-10 crew, 4 pilots. Destinations- Mun, Minmus, Gilly, Ike, Duna, Dres, Eeloo, Pol, Bop, Val, Laythe, Tylo, Moho. Super SpaceLiner- 250+ passenger capacity, 12-30 crew, 4-7 pilots. Destinations- Mun, Minmus, Gilly, Ike, Duna, Dres, Eeloo, Pol, Bop, Val, Laythe, Tylo, Moho, and Eve (if you dare). ADDED NOTES: The stated destinations does not mean you can only visit those places. As an example, you can take a private SpaceLiner to Ike, refuel, go to Duna, back to Ike, refuel, and go home as if they are connection flights. When I see a craft that catches my eye, I will ask for further details and/or craft file. If it is up the the highest standards, then it will go onto the Best SpaceLiners Leaderboard. Have fun designing and flying! Best SpaceLiners Leaderboard

Hi All! I've been trying a little more with SSTO spaceplanes recently. I've done some in the past, mostly small ones with stock parts, but in this heavily modded career game I wanted to try big, so I built this one using moslty OPT parts, which I wanted to use for a space camp mission (bring 15 tourists to orbit). It actually has a pretty decent TWR, not a lot of DeltaV probably, but I haven't tuned it yet...mostly because I can't get it past 370 m/s or so. In the picture attached you can even see that I'm pitching down, but even pitching down, my speed was DECREASING... So. I'm showing the aero overlay, by doing some googling, I saw people seem to suggest drag from clipping parts might be a thing. I can't honestly think of anything else, given the large wingspan and high TWR. Is drag what I'm looking at? If so, how do I fix it? Thanks in advance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz6GRP_b21M A good video guide on how to build a small mk 2 Sato using parts that can be accessed either late game or in sandbox it can hold little or no cargo, and only a few passengers but functions rather well.

Craft download : http://kerbalx.com/stardog573/VOLANS-II.craft Volans II is stock SSTM. It is capable of VTOL on Mun / Minmus. Parts count : 66 Mass : 51.2 tons Dimensions : 4.3 x 12.6 x 16.8 meters (HxWxL) Keybindings : 1 - Switching RAPIER mode 2 - Toggle RAPIER 3 - Toggle Nerv 4 - Toggle Hinges Flight instructions 1) Ascending with 20~25 degrees angle 2) Flaming out, switching RAPIER mode, Activate Nerv 3) Make it onto orbit, going to Mun or Minmus 4) Toggle hinges and Land (Control from top docking port to control easier) 5) Control from cockpit, take off and toggle hinge 6) Leave Mun/Minmus, few times of aerobrake on kerbin, re-entry, and land.

Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YYHUBYEws321V8jARv2VeULZ-sSHXV9S/view?usp=sharing Mass: 692 tons Part count: 828 DLC Breaking ground