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this take off looks amazing. i'm planning to add more features to the craft.

They said it was impossible. That even considering the idea was a crazed fever dream. BEHOLD! (Not me.)

I present you a difficult engineering challenge: Build an SSTO that uses tier 4 parts and below, that can be launched using tier 1 facilities. You'll face juno jets, EC drain (no panels), tight flight envelopes, and toothpick landing wheels. Your only source of EC will be from your engines and those measly batteries. Special flight and re-entry planning is crucial. It took me a few hours, but this challenge is possible. If anyone wants proof or needs help, I can PM you my craft and some tips that worked for me. It meets all the requirements (and bonuses, except for the commnet one - that's untested). Hopefully I'm not the only one who finds engineering challenges thrilling... Rules: No refuelling or help from external spacecraft. No EVAs (tourists can't EVA, and crew can't EVA off the ground with a T1 astronaut complex). The craft should work on normal difficulty (regular reentry heating). Note: If you really want: You can disable commnet. Reach a stable orbit of at least 70 km using tier 4 parts and below. Have a payload of one tourist. This is the hard part! You can use building/pilot aid mods, but your craft and it's flight should be reproducible in vanilla. Note: If you really want, you can use SAS (in sandbox) even though the T4 stayputnik doesn't have SAS. You can build your planes in sandbox, but make sure they fit within the T1 facility restrictions (https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Runway) Note: If you really want, you can use action groups even though the T1 sph can't do that. Note: If you really want, you can launch/land from the grass, or use the T3 runway, or ditch in the water next to the KSC. The craft must take off, fly, and land like a spaceplane. Land in one piece. This is a reusable SSTO, isn't it? Note: If you really want, you can jettison parts at/during launch as long as they don't get destroyed. Basically, this means that fancy launch rigs are allowed. (I've decided to edit in this rule because it allows for more design variety). Hardcore mode (optional challenges): These are only necessary for the #3/#4 win category (see below): No SAS (stayputnik has no SAS) or pilot aids. Takeoff and land on the T1 runway. No action groups (T1 facilities can't set up action groups) Absolutely no jettisoning of parts, not even launch rigs. Use commnet (normal difficulty) and set occlusion to max (you can use ground stations around kerbin). No unmanned control during re-entry if you aren't careful! Who wins? This isn't really a competition... If you want to compete, here are some milestones to aim for: Use as few parts as possible to reach orbit (my design uses the max amount of 30). If there's a tie in part count, the cheaper vessel wins. Whoever's vessel can achieve the highest orbit apoapsis AND RETURN wins (basically delta v, but piloting and aerodynamics matter). Whoever fulfills all the bonuses using the least amount of parts. Whoever fulfills all the bonuses and can achieve the highest orbit apoapsis AND RETURN wins (basically delta v, but piloting and aerodynamics matter). Use plenty screenshots or record a video to show your design. Good luck!

All I wanted was to figure out how much excess thrust I had for my spaceplane along its ascent profile. And then I wanted to know the lift curve slope and level flight AoA so I could program my kOS spaceplane autopilot better. Next thing you know, I'm writing a mod to work in the Spaceplane hangar to calculate flight envelopes, alpha curves, and so much more. And it works, sort of totally! Check out the release thread here: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/177302-ksp-142-kerbal-wind-tunnel/ This shows that the Aeris 4A has a ceiling of about 22km and a max speed at sea level of about 790m/s and a max overall speed of about 1360m/s at around 14km using its air-breathing engines. Then, at 15km and at 964m/s its level-flight AoA is 2.8 degrees and it has 365kN of excess thrust. Great! But now I want to freshen up the GUI (thanks @TriggerAu, but this was clearly designed for Transfer Window Planner ) and add in Lift, Drag, and L/D curves for a given altitude and mach number. I also want to move to using background threads for calculating (right now, I either hang the program for 20 seconds while it calculates that graph or put up with artifacts from my non-thread-safe implementation on the BackgroundWorker, as you can see). First, some credits: Thanks to @linuxgurugamer and @Boris-Barboris. I learned a ton about the aerodynamics model from your Correct COL mod. Also your method of drawing line graphs is coming in handy for the lift curves I'm working on drawing. Thanks to @TriggerAu. I learned a ton about making the graph from your Transfer Window Planner. And thanks to the MechJeb team. I'm using a lot of your tricks to make things more thread-safe.

This was designed for transferring exchange crew to and from my stations in LKO. It has a capacity of 8 Kerbals and can be used for servicing stations up to a 250km orbit. Action group keys are : 1 - Toggle engine mode 3 - Toggle airbrakes 5 - Toggle the docking port and cargo bay doors Download craft file from KerbalX

This had been discussed on the forums a few years ago, but now ARCA (a rather odd company that doesn't seem to know what its market is) has released a glitzy CGI video of its "Haas 2CAJ" smallsat SSTO launcher. While the company's track record isn't very good, the combination of technologies and solutions in their idea seems solid enough. Here's a bunch of specs on it. It's a 16-meter-high smallsat SSTO burning RP-1 and HTP with a projected payload of 100 kg to LEO, using a rather large linear aerospike engine and a composite frame/tank with common bulkheads. Claimed launch price is just $1 million. As these things go, it's not a bad idea. HTP/RP-1 is about the only non-exotic prop combo with a higher impulse density than kerolox, and it also permits higher thrust than kerolox, which helps make up for the lower TWR of linear aerospike engines. It's pressure-fed, which would typically be the death knell for an SSTO, but since the linear aerospike engine doesn't require a high chamber pressure it's not a bad idea. Pressure-fed engines also typically have very poor tankage ratios, but the composite tanks can handle higher pressures. The pressurant is liquid helium that is passed through an engine heat exchanger, simultaneously cooling the big aerospike engine and saving on the weight of a turbopump, which further mitigates the low TWR of the aerospike. The linear aerospike allows for roll, pitch, and yaw authority through differential throttling alone, which saves on the mass of a gimbal system. The use of HTP comes with its own set of handling challenges, but it is cheaper than LOX, requires no insulation, and requires less demanding materials specifications than LOX. All in all, not a bad concept. Whether they will pull it off or not, I don't know. They fuss and fret over the horrors of staging, but honestly this could be very competitive if it was offered with the option of COTS parallel SRBs. Base configuration for smallsats, a couple of SRBs for larger LEO comsats, or a quad of SRBs for big LEO comsats or GTO smallsats. Better than trying to fuss with a second stage.

I am having trouble thinking up rocket designs this thread is about giving design to the community and help people if they are stuck (like if they can’t get to a planet.) no real rules at this point in time but I will make some up in the near future. You can post wacky rockets or really cool planes, SSTO, really weird missions and stuff like that. Everyone is welcome. Be nice. If you what to tell a community if you made a mod you can post the link in the thread. Most importantly have fun

So, my SSTO is running out of fuel early. This is my first SSTO so I don't know if I'm doing anything wrong. I've watched lots of videos about piloting SSTO's and I've followed all instructions but I run out at like 33.3 kilometers SCREENSHOTS: https://imgur.com/a/0CYLa7x

After days reserching the space center history our reserchers found this forgoten spacecrafts some of them are prototipes that never flow ! Heres the hangar were the spacecraft blueprints are:https://kerbalx.com/hangars/35508 In this thread i wil present you crafts i used and crafts that im currently using. Old crafts will be marked with a and newer will be with a All the crafts from in research to the ones that have blueprints I will try to upload at least one new craft every weak. all pictures were taken from game no post procesin was used only the ones from mods for more photos and other descriptions visit Kerbal X P.S. plese mind my inglish im acctually spanish so dont expect perfect englis I do try my best If you want to make a sugestion for more spacecraft`s or to update an existing spacecrafts comment below!

I've been playing about with some vertically launched SSTO's after a few weeks ago making my first of these. That one didn't have the ability to return (safely) to the surface, so I rectified that today. Mk1 Only a tiny payload volume inside a payload bay, that it shared with solar arrays, and parachutes etc. A crew of two takes this to orbit. Worked well enough for a first stab at this. Went for a land touchdown, rather than splashdown. The flat terrain allowing it to balance on the aerospikes. Mk2 A straight forward "bigger is better version, with a longer payload bay. As with all of these designs, a lare part of re-entry was a case of just letting the vehicle spin to pick up drag and spread heating, rather than a nice controlled descent... but hey, it works. Upper half of the open payload bay, plus another one (closed in this image) available for cargo. Plenty of heat on the return. And a comfortable 7.4m/s splashdown. Mk3 A payload only vehicle this time, that delivers 5 tons of playload to an 80km orbit. Launch was uneventful. Left with decent amount of fuel for circularisation. Separation of the payload. One orbital habitat, ready for business and for more deliveries to join it in the near future, to create a larger station. Another "wobble, wobble, but ok in the end" re-entry.

Hello, to anyone who is reading this post. I have ideas for Laythe SSTOs & I need need some help in fixing my crafts so they can live up to my expectations. Feel free to reach out to me & help me on my goals!

I always thought that with the use of ions and gravity assist that an exoplanet mission wasn't too far out of the question. So I gave it a try and... Big thanks to @AndrewDrawsPrettyPictures for making the Extrasolar system pack which is used to add the exoplanet into the game. You did a very good job with everything, from the design to the visual enhancements.

ok, here goes. 2. is the "reach mach 1, reach 10 km, reach orbit" or the "reach mach 3 at 150 meters or below, pitch up to 10 or 15 degrees, reach orbit" ascent profile better for heavy cargo ssto? 5. is 1 whiplash and the rest nuclear engines and rapiers better than just rapiers and nuclear engines all help is appreciated .

X-84 Akkadian at KerbalX The X-84 Akkadian is my attempt at the Ultimate Challenge: Visit every body and moon in the Kerbol system. As a bonus: visit also every planet and Moon in the Outer Planets mod. The vessel consists of three parts: - X-84 Akkadian SSTO - X-84a Ishtar Eve Lander - X84b Traveller Probe core The Akkadian is the workhorse of the mission: It is able to lift itself and the Eve lander into low Kerbin orbit. It has enough delta V to reach Moho from Eve. Enough thrust to land and take off from Tylo or Slate. And, it is sufficiently aerodynamic to land and take off from Tekto. Three Kerbals can travel comfortly and collect science from almost everywhere, except Eve. The Ishtar Eve lander is being lifted to orbit and carried through space by the Akkadian. All is needed are four additional Whiplash Engines and some wings. In order to save some weight, the lander is only equipped with a command chair for one Kerbal as well as some basic science experiments. Also on board is the Traveller probe core. The Traveller probe core is the key to fullfill the Ultimate Challenge: the contract requires a command module or probe core to land on every single planet and moon. As the Akkadian cannot land and take off from eve, and the Ishtar is not built to travel to every other body, the Traveller Probe core is the solution inbetween. It will land on Eve with the Lander. After reaching orbit again, the small probe will dock with the SSTO for the remainder of the voyage. The vessel is surprisingly cheap: the whole package costs under 300.000 Bucks. Take-Off weight from the runway is under 150t. And, practically no clipping was involved. Some specifics for the Akkadian Maximum mass: 109t Max Liquid Fuel: 10180 Max Oxidiser: 4620 Crew capacity: 3 Krew Range and Fuel Profiles: Max Range (10180 LF / 0 Ox): 7023 m/s dV Low Ox (10180 LF / 1000 Ox): 6400 m/s dV Max High Thrust, Chemical Rockets only (3892 LF / 4620 Ox): 2592 m/s dV Use Max Range, if target has low gravity suitable for Nerv only landing (Gilly, Ike, Bop, Pol, etc.) Use Low Ox Range, if target has medium gravity and Nervs require assist from Aerospikes / Rapiers (Moho, Duna, etc.) Use Max High Thrust for landing and take-off from Tylo. Remember to pack additional LF (800-1000 LF) for take-off from Tylo and transfer to Pol. Engines 3x Rapiers (Action Group 1 to toggle, AG 2 to switch mode 2x Nerv (AG3) for interplanetary travel 2x Aerospike to provide additional thrust for high-G landings (Tylo) or more efficient Oxidizer use. Aerospikes have 340 sec vacuum ISP vs. 305 sec from Rapiers in rocket mode. Also, it has 4 detachable Whiplash Engines to lift the Ishtar Eve Lander into Orbit. Ishtar Eve Lander The Ishtar Eve Lander is built to be lifted in front of the Akkadian into Orbit. For this, it has a detachable set of wings and control surfaces. To provide the necessary thrust for ascent, the Akkadian has four detachable Whiplash ram jets. The Ishtar has a first stage with one Vector engine and six asparagus-staging drop tanks, the first two with additional Aerospikes. The second stage is powered by one Terrier and two drop tanks with Sparks. The whole ascent vehicle has enough delta V to reach orbit from sea level with moderate skills. (You’ll have to know the atmospheric properties and general Eve ascent profiles, though. When in doubt, search the KSP forums or watch Eve ascent videos on Youtube.) Maximum mass: 56t with wings, 49t lander only Science Complement: 4x basic experiments (Thermometer, Accelerometer, Barometer, Gravioli Detector) Electricity: 2x solar panels in the Traveler Probe, 2x fuel cells on landing legs.

I built this Andromeda class SSTO the other week, the intended use being space station components, which are bulky but light. I tested it with a 2.5m Xenon powered ship as the heaviest plausible payload (18t), because if your lifter is NERV powered, why would you go back down to chemical ISP for the deep space part? But the gold standard for a mk3 SSTO is an orange tank (36T) , so it had to be done... A design like this lives or dies by it's lift/drag ratio, namely you must stay as close to prograde as possible to minimise drag from the cargo bay. Aerodynamically, it's designed to do that when empty, and i've added trim flaps on action groups 1-3 to nudge the angle of attack a few degrees higher or lower so you can adjust the flight path. However, the positioning of the cargo can upset this. The orange tank caused it's AoA in Neutral trim to shift to almost 2 degrees nose down , due to the cargo being slightly too far forward. I was able to work around this by operating with nose up trim most of the flight and tweaking the deployment angle of the trim flap, as i'm sure you could if you had the luxury of an analog stick ! In future though, i'd recommend test flying with the payload before shooting for orbit, and see where the natural AoA goes to so you can see if the cargo needs to move at all. Or just get a fancy-ass analog joystick ! https://kerbalx.com/AeroGav/Andromeda Is it the smallest thing to ever lift an orange tank?

Hi all, first post here! So, I'm in career mode, with the majority of the tech tree unlocked (rapiers etc, but no MK3 spaceplane parts yet...) I have a rather large assembly plan for a rather large multi purpose space station. SoI need a cost effective (hopefully reusable for realism) LKO capable vehicle with the largest cargo capacity possible. Any ideas? Options thus far and their problems: 1. SSTO - probably with rapiers, but these are hard to design, and cargo capacity seems limited unless I go massive, and I mean massive 2. Recoverable booster (spacex style) - design wise this should be easier, with optimal cargo capacity, however landing the damn thing is a fair task... I have a mechjeb available (landing guidance) which could work, but surely I would need a mod to fly multiple ships at the same time. I'm willing to try my hand at KOS if it would work? Which of my two options is the best way forward, and how best to implement this in ship and mission design and execution? Or is there an option I haven't though of?

post SSTO's here post modded SSTOs can use stock parts, just no 100% stock

Put the most S4-512 fuel tanks from Making History into orbit at one time using an SSTO Rules - No cheating - Stock and Making History parts allowed - No part mods - S4-512 tank must actually be full of fuel - SSTO must return to Kerbin (KSC landing optional but preferred) - Most S4-512 fuel tanks launched wins - Must take off horizontally, it would be too easy to simply add a bunch of Saturn Vs to boost the thing into orbit. Leaderboard 1. @JacobJHC - 1 fuel tank 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. My entry to prove it is doable:

(I've posted this before, but that was a long time ago, and I want to get back into the community, so here goes. Sorry if I shouldn't post this again). The Grus III is a long-range SSTO capable of Mun landings, though according to my Delta V calculations it can easily go well beyond that. It can get into orbit very easily due to its high TWR while using its Rapier engines. Its (roughly) estimated Delta V in LKO is about 4,150 m/s (usually a little less). Specifications: Part Count: 97 Mass: 80.545t Height: 5.8m Width: 22.8m Length: 25.6m Here it is on The Mun. It can make the trip easily as it was designed for bigger missions. It is also equipped with four science experiments, located on the belly of the craft. Here it is in the SPH. Some (kinda) strange features are its extra pair of engines. While very helpful during the initial ascent, extra reaction wheels are needed in space to prevent the Grus III from flipping all over the place due to the weird Center of Thrust. (At least this isn't the case with the nukes, though. That would be bad.) The Grus III completed the Mun trip with quite a bit of fuel left over. I've also taken it to Minmus, and Duna orbit (landing it was to hard to bother). Download here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwpycuAS_53bcXdYMDl1MEhBV2s

It is a normal routine mission for the fist SSTO of Kerbin, there are important Kerbals on the plane, but something doesnt go as planned... Can you save the crew and the SSTO? Or will they die in a huge explosion? This is my first try with the mission builder. Download (Google Drive) Hints:

">View post on imgur.com">Album will appear when post is submitted apparently i also need help figuring out how to put an imgur album in here

I created an SSTO which works fine in Kerbin atmosphere, has plenty of fuel to get into orbit, however, when trying to circularise the orbit and using the nuclear engines in orbit, the SSTO keeps on pitching up, even when all control surfaces are turned off. Any help please? The SSTO has a mass of 56.3k kg, 4900 units of liquid fuel and 880 units of oxidiser, with 4 rapier engines and 2 nuclear.

In the interest of creating a proper VTOL similar to the F-35C or Harrier, I've been trying to work on creating a powered, locking hinge assembly that would allow an engine to be undocked, rotated 90 degrees, and redocked, reversibly and repeatedly, using only action groups. I've worked on it for quite a while and I've never been able to get it perfect. Here's the closest I've come: So the challenge is this: create a rotating assembly, in stock, that uses action groups to complete a powered 90-degree rotation that can be repeated indefinitely. Level 1: Create and demonstrate only the assembly. Level 2. Demonstrate that engines can be affixed to your assembly. Level 3. Build a VTOL aircraft around your assembly and demonstrate liftoff, hovering, transition, translation, and vertical landing. Level 4. Build a VTOL SSTO around your assembly and demonstrate liftoff, hovering, transition, ascent, orbit, deorbit, re-entry, and vertical landing. Lowest-mass hinge assembly wins.

If you are playing a career game there are things that matters: cost, research, safety, effectiveness. In my game I imposed myself to make crew rotations on long term station, to minimize cost you need ssto but effective SSTO will come with R.A.P.I.E.R. engines that are very expensive engine. This SSTO is my answer. It flies almost 20/30 times and this is the perfected version. Is cheap and does need high research elements such as R.A.P.I.E.R. engine but still perfect in its role mission task: safely bring a 3 member crew to/from any Orbital Kerbin station without refuelling. It reach 100/100 LKO with remaining 1300 ms of DV enough to reach also any Mün or Minmus station. Safe. the orbiting ascend is made in only four manoeuvres: a) take off rotation to 10° ascend angle, b) switch to aereospike at 1380 ms c) shutdown engine when reached your goal apoapsis d) circularise . Safe on reentry: once you made your preferred deorbit burn just set your VSO to orbit RAD+ with 0 rotation and wait unti il speed slow down, once you regain a correct flying asset you will bless it's almost perfect balanced flying performance: that will allow you to safe land your crew on runaway. Commands: 1 toggle ramjet 2 toggle aereospike 5 toggle cargo doors, antenna and docking Imgur image album Craft File Project