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Is there any reason to keep old satellites in orbit?  Ive done a few sat contracts and they always say something along the lines of "this satellite shall henceforth belong to insert company name here".  I already have the money and rewards for the contract  and the space around kerbin is getting cluttered, so does it even matter if i just destroy them all?

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34 minutes ago, Ineedaweapon said:

Is there any reason to keep old satellites in orbit?  

Yes.  Occasionally you get another contract to reposition it, or to do the same experiments again that it's equipped for.  But these are few and far between and mostly don't pay much (except for SENTINEL contracts with the Asteroid Day official mod), so if you're tired of looking at them, get rid of them.

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Game will generate "position satellite in adjusted orbit" contracts for those things, free money if they still have fuel. Also can use them for "send science data from space around...". If you are not interested in those contracts, just blow them up.

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i usually leave 1-2 sats per sphere of influence in orbit for the "transmit science data" contracts. additional satellites are deleted. i tend to ignore the "reposition satellite" contracts. would have to switch to the satellite to make sure it still has fuel, then back, accept contract and switch to the satellite again. not worth the bother for the (usually) low payment (only a few thousand funds)

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14 minutes ago, mk1980 said:

i usually leave 1-2 sats per sphere of influence in orbit for the "transmit science data" contracts. additional satellites are deleted. i tend to ignore the "reposition satellite" contracts. would have to switch to the satellite to make sure it still has fuel, then back, accept contract and switch to the satellite again. not worth the bother for the (usually) low payment (only a few thousand funds)

i thought they only offer missions that are technially possible so only for satelittes with enough fuel

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38 minutes ago, flatbear said:

i thought they only offer missions that are technially possible so only for satelittes with enough fuel

Nope, they don't care. I had to claw one around to complete the contract. Now i always check first and rename/delete empty satellites.

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2 hours ago, Ineedaweapon said:

Is there any reason to keep old satellites in orbit?  Ive done a few sat contracts and they always say something along the lines of "this satellite shall henceforth belong to insert company name here".  I already have the money and rewards for the contract  and the space around kerbin is getting cluttered, so does it even matter if i just destroy them all?

I never see that wording in any of my stock contracts. So I still suspect that's from a mod?

Depending on how you design your satellites when you launch them (and your tech level when you launch them) they can still be useful. I try to always design my satellites so they will end up being as useful as possible after the contract is complete. I use a lot of space tugs, so generally that's what I design the satellites to be after they are done being satellites. Even if you cannot make spacetugs out of them, an orbiting fuel tank is still a very useful thing. If you launch a station hub, then all your orbiting fuel tanks can dock with it, and you end up with a giant fuel station almost for free. One giant fuel station around every celestial body, even. So I never blow up my satellites.

 

 

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There is the CleverSats Contract Pack mod which provides this type of contracts.

Alternatively, you could mark them as Debris so at least they don't clutter up the tracking station.

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You can have an satellite fulfilling multiple missions, had one who did an orbit around Kerbin, orbit around Mun and two contracts for Minmus. Note that satellite has to have all the parts required for the contract so if the Kerbin satelite demands an goo container and the Minmus one an thermometer it need both and it need to be launched after you got all your contracts. 

Leave them for science around contracts, you can even land them for science from surface. 
they can also be used for science while flying over target contracts, this works best for close to polar orbits. 

if you get too many, delete the ones in stupid orbits and low on fuel. 

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In my last campaign, I decommissioned all of them after their purpose was fulfilled.  I was under the impression that having them around was causing a performance hit on my machine (which appears to be mostly, if not totally, inaccurate to my current understanding).  This time around, I'm only decommissioning those that run out (or very close to out) of maneuvering propellant, since those just attract satellite-move contracts that can't be fulfilled.

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