Multi-Relay Carrier Challenge

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

While Elonski Kerman is busy taking over Chirper, YSpace has been forced to take some minor budget cuts. As such, its engineers in the Relay Web project have been tasked with designing a more efficient way to carry its small relays into orbit. A few days later, they agreed on testing spacecraft that can carry two or more relays at the same time.

 

Here are the rules for this interesting challenge:

1. (BARE MINIMUM) Your craft has to carry two or more relays to LKO
   1. Relays being of identical design not required, but highly recommended
   2. Bonus points if you can get your carrier higher than that
2. Each relay has to have at least 2 G relay power
3. All relays have to be unmanned. The delivery craft can go either way
   1. BEWARE: if you choose to have any kerbals pilot it, you have to return all of them alive after all relays are deployed
4. No damage can be sustained to either the relay or the delivery craft upon deployment. Not even the solar panels
5. (IF YOU PLAN ON RETURNING THE DELIVERY CRAFT) all your relays must be deployed
   1. If not, you can ignore this
6. You will be placed in separate divisions based on whether your entire craft has:
   1. Simple Tastes - ALL STOCK PARTS, NO DLC
      1. At least no mods that come with additional parts
   2. Spice Things Up - DLCs INCLUDED, BUT NO MODS
   3. Free-for-all - MODS 
7. You can submit as many entries as you want, but only your best entries will be considered for each division
8. (OBVIOUSLY) Pictures/video of your performance to be considered

 

Scoring Format

• RELAY QUANTITY:
  • +10 points for every relay past 2 (baseline: 20 points)
    • e.g. for a 16-relay spacecraft, that's (20 baseline points) + [(16 relays - 2 baseline = 14 additional) * (10 points each) = 140)] = 160 points
    • If you can carry 10 or more relays at once, that would be awesome
• SPACECRAFT REUSABILITY:
  • 75 points if you use a spaceplane AND can (obviously) land the emptied craft in one piece
  • 50 points if you take off the rocket from the launch pad AND can return it to Kerbin's surface
    • + 15 point bonus if you manage to not damage it during re-entry and landing
      • Fairings deployed don't count when it comes to assessing damages, as they were planned
    • If you can take it to another celestial body's orbit and return the emptied craft to Kerbin's surface, that would be VERY awesome
  • No additional points if returning the spacecraft is not possible
• PERFORMANCE:
  • 25 points - Can only take the craft up to LKO before deploying the individual relays
  • 30 points - Can take it up to Minmus orbit
  • 35 points - Can take it up to the Mun's orbit
    • If you can do that, then you can do Minmus just as easily
  • 70 points - Can put the relay carrier in orbit of another celestial body OUTSIDE OF KERBIN'S SOI before deploying them
    • e.g. if you want to start a relay web over Ike, send your delivery craft to that rock before deploying them one-by-one in various orbits
• PRICE:
  • 30 points if price<$100K
  • 20 points if $100K=<price<=$400K
  • 15 points if price>$400K

 

AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION IF ANYONE DIES OR GETS STRANDED

EVERYONE RETURNS ALIVE

 

I'll start us off with my entry, a relay carrier with 16 individually-named xenon-propelled 2G relays

Spoiler

• The relay carrier getting checked in the VAB, along with ALL SIXTEEN individual ion-powered relays
  • Price - 393,997
    • 20 points since $100K=<price<=$400K
  • Relay Quantity - 16
    • (20 baseline points) + [(16 relays - 2 baseline = 14 additional) * (10 points each) = 140)] = 160 points
• Boy, checking individual staging was a pain - as well as naming them "Mini-Relay #" one-by-one
• And if I thought that was a pain, try cutting off the fairing midway

 

• Blasting off at an orbital inclination of 25 degrees

 

• As I learned the hard way, do not deploy the fairing until after LKO is established. It may be tempting to shed weight and increase delta-V, but your craft will end up wobbly and will break apart.

 

• Mini-Relay 2 leaving the carrier right after deployment

 

• The relay getting farther away from the carrier before it could establish its own orbit.

 

• 4,860 m/s of delta-V per individual relay? That's pretty impressive.
  • However, since it is xenon-powered, it will require a steady power source to be reliable. It may take several attempts and quite a long time to establish the desired orbit.

 

• All sixteen relays have been deployed in LKO
  • 25 points - Can only take the craft up to LKO before deploying the individual relays

 

• With airbrakes deployed and aiming for retrograde, I intend to bring this bad boy back home.

 

• BACK HOME IN ONE PIECE
  •  (50 points for a rocket that returned) + (15 point bonus for no damage) = 65 points

 

SIMPLE TASTES DIVISION

20 price + 160 relay quantity + 25 for LKO + 65 rocket returned without a scratch = 270 points

https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Multi-Satellite-Carrier-16-pack

 

Have fun, everybody. I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

[LookingLost]

Here's a vanilla (simple taste), LKO, high-priced ($948k) submission.  This is my first post on this forum.

https://imgur.com/gallery/adEqMRy

• 48 relays = 480 points
• Rocket from launchpad and returned safely =60+15 points = 75 points
• LKO = 25 points
• price was > $400k = 15 points
• total = 480 + 75+ 25 + 15 = 595 points?

[Johnster_Space_Program]

On 4/19/2022 at 3:14 AM, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Scoring Format

• RELAY QUANTITY:
  • +10 points for every relay past 2 (baseline: 20 points)
    • e.g. for a 16-relay spacecraft, that's (20 baseline points) + [(16 relays - 2 baseline = 14 additional) * (10 points each) = 140)] = 160 points
    • If you can carry 10 or more relays at once, that would be awesome
• SPACECRAFT REUSABILITY:
  • 75 points if you use a spaceplane AND can (obviously) land the emptied craft in one piece
  • 50 points if you take off the rocket from the launch pad AND can return it to Kerbin's surface
    • + 15 point bonus if you manage to not damage it during re-entry and landing
      • Fairings deployed don't count when it comes to assessing damages, as they were planned
    • If you can take it to another celestial body's orbit and return the emptied craft to Kerbin's surface, that would be VERY awesome
  • No additional points if returning the spacecraft is not possible
• PERFORMANCE:
  • 25 points - Can only take the craft up to LKO before deploying the individual relays
  • 30 points - Can take it up to Minmus orbit
  • 35 points - Can take it up to the Mun's orbit
    • If you can do that, then you can do Minmus just as easily
  • 70 points - Can put the relay carrier in orbit of another celestial body OUTSIDE OF KERBIN'S SOI before deploying them
    • e.g. if you want to start a relay web over Ike, send your delivery craft to that rock before deploying them one-by-one in various orbits
• PRICE:
  • 30 points if price<$100K
  • 20 points if $100K=<price<=$400K
  • 15 points if price>$400K

 

AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION IF ANYONE DIES OR GETS STRANDED

EVERYONE RETURNS ALIVE

 

I'll start us off with my entry, a relay carrier with 16 individually-named xenon-propelled 2G relays

  Reveal hidden contents

• The relay carrier getting checked in the VAB, along with ALL SIXTEEN individual ion-powered relays
  • Price - 393,997
    • 20 points since $100K=<price<=$400K
  • Relay Quantity - 16
    • (20 baseline points) + [(16 relays - 2 baseline = 14 additional) * (10 points each) = 140)] = 160 points
• Boy, checking individual staging was a pain - as well as naming them "Mini-Relay #" one-by-one
• And if I thought that was a pain, try cutting off the fairing midway

 

• Blasting off at an orbital inclination of 25 degrees

 

• As I learned the hard way, do not deploy the fairing until after LKO is established. It may be tempting to shed weight and increase delta-V, but your craft will end up wobbly and will break apart.

 

• Mini-Relay 2 leaving the carrier right after deployment

 

• The relay getting farther away from the carrier before it could establish its own orbit.

 

• 4,860 m/s of delta-V per individual relay? That's pretty impressive.
  • However, since it is xenon-powered, it will require a steady power source to be reliable. It may take several attempts and quite a long time to establish the desired orbit.

 

• All sixteen relays have been deployed in LKO
  • 25 points - Can only take the craft up to LKO before deploying the individual relays

 

• With airbrakes deployed and aiming for retrograde, I intend to bring this bad boy back home.

 

• BACK HOME IN ONE PIECE
  •  (50 points for a rocket that returned) + (15 point bonus for no damage) = 65 points

 

SIMPLE TASTES DIVISION

20 price + 160 relay quantity + 25 for LKO + 65 rocket returned without a scratch = 270 points

https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Multi-Satellite-Carrier-16-pack

 

Have fun, everybody. I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

I have a question about this challenge. If you decide to use a multi-stage rocket, do you still get all of the points for reusability if you land each individual stage back on Kerbin without any damage?

Edited June 11, 2022 by Johnster_Space_Program

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

11 hours ago, Johnster_Space_Program said:

I have a question about this challenge. If you decide to use a multi-stage rocket, do you still get all of the points for reusability if you land each individual stage back on Kerbin without any damage?

 

Yes, so long as you can prove it can be done.