Stock 100 ton Payload SSTO (Rocket Engines Only/ No Jet Engines)

[Devinci]

I finally managed to get 100 ton to orbit using an SSTO. As you can see I only used rocket engines making it so much easier to "fly".

Download

 

Edited March 10, 2016 by Devinci

[AlamoVampire]

thats one slick ship! good work!

[PointySideUp]

Sweet rocket cargo space plane!

Edited March 10, 2016 by PointySideUp

[Devinci]

7 minutes ago, AlamoVampire said:

thats one slick ship! good work!

Thanks!

5 minutes ago, PointySideUp said:

Sweet rocket cargo space plane!

Thanks! Yes I can launch a whole space station in a single launch! lol!

[Rune]

Pretty cool!! Gotta love a honest-to-heinlein chemical SSTO. Now, having said that I like it, I do have a few suggestions for the next one:

Payload density and bulk. It's the biggest problem with planes, you have to pack everything inside a cargo bay, and when you do that you usually find out that your payload is significantly less dense than a fuel tank, so your payload won't fit the bay, or you'll be wasting payload capacity on every flight. Rockets are cool, because since you put the payload on top, you can build a fairing as big as you need, and don't acre about how the CoL/CoM change, on account of launching vertically.

So here's my nitpick: why did you give up the best advantage of rockets for an horizontal takeoff? Not only is it easier to place the payload, if you lift off vertically you will suffer less gravity losses, and you will need less wings because you only have to glide when you are empty. I say these things with confidence, because I have been working on a 40mT SSTO/50mT stage-and-a-half booster using just this very same concept...

 

Rune. I find it hard to build a >50mT payload, since I always launch with empty tanks to refuel in orbit with really cheap (in √/kg) airbreathing SSTOs.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Rune

[Devinci]

8 hours ago, Rune said:

Pretty cool!! Gotta love a honest-to-heinlein chemical SSTO. Now, having said that I like it, I do have a few suggestions for the next one:

Payload density and bulk. It's the biggest problem with planes, you have to pack everything inside a cargo bay, and when you do that you usually find out that your payload is significantly less dense than a fuel tank, so your payload won't fit the bay, or you'll be wasting payload capacity on every flight. Rockets are cool, because since you put the payload on top, you can build a fairing as big as you need, and don't acre about how the CoL/CoM change, on account of launching vertically.

So here's my nitpick: why did you give up the best advantage of rockets for an horizontal takeoff? Not only is it easier to place the payload, if you lift off vertically you will suffer less gravity losses, and you will need less wings because you only have to glide when you are empty. I say these things with confidence, because I have been working on a 40mT SSTO/50mT stage-and-a-half booster using just this very same concept...

 

Rune. I find it hard to build a >50mT payload, since I always launch with empty tanks to refuel in orbit with really cheap (in √/kg) airbreathing SSTOs.

You are right about launching vertically.  Honestly I launched horizontally just for the cool aspect. Also I figure it would require less logistics to load the actual cargo in the SSTO.