Sea Dragon?

[Kerb24]

We know that in order to assemble an interstellar vessel, it will need to be built in orbit, at an orbital shipyard. But how does the orbital shipyard get built? It could be built in multiple launches using more conventional rockets. But the individual parts of the shipyard would probably be larger than the 5-meter diameter parts. So, the obvious solution is larger conventional rocket parts.

[Catto]

14 minutes ago, Kerb24 said:

We know that in order to assemble an interstellar vessel, it will need to be built in orbit, at an orbital shipyard. But how does the orbital shipyard get built? It could be built in multiple launches using more conventional rockets. But the individual parts of the shipyard would probably be larger than the 5-meter diameter parts. So, the obvious solution is larger conventional rocket parts.

I like sealaunches, they should add those for like, a budget friendly option

[jastrone]

[snip] that depends, there are two options that i find likely for shipyards. either the ksp 1 ish solution where you just take some part and launch it to orbit and then dock it. the other way you could do it is like a colony but in orbit. i think that has been confirmed that you can build colonies in orbit but im not sure. that way you could either launch a lot of ships just carying the building materials or you could maybe mine an asteroid for materials. personally i think it would be more fun with the second option as it is more different from ksp 1.

Edited May 14, 2022 by Vanamonde

[Fletch4]

Maybe they could make a launch site where the coordinates are in the water, and there could be a couple of ship models that surround that area. or, when you spawn in at that launch site, all of your launch clamps dissapear and turn into tugboats.

[Laxez]

They have already said that some very repetitive operations will be automated, including docking in orbit.

[Bej Kerman]

13 minutes ago, Laxez said:

They have already said that some very repetitive operations will be automated, including docking in orbit.

When did they say docking would be automated? Milk runs will be automated, but docking in that context is a part of a bigger picture. It's not like you'll never have to use skills again.

[Catto]

23 hours ago, Bej Kerman said:

When did they say docking would be automated? Milk runs will be automated, but docking in that context is a part of a bigger picture. It's not like you'll never have to use skills again.

Milk runs? Are you saying my ships will leave and never come back?

[Fletch4]

3 hours ago, Catto said:

Milk runs? Are you saying my ships will leave and never come back?

It's okay. You'll be better off without your ships.

[Rutabaga22]

I think that orbital assembly should be something you have to unlock in science/career mode like how on ps4 you unlock the mun launch site at a certain point. But, in sandbox it would be unlocked from the start.

 

[Ryaja]

Maybe they could do a shallow underwater launch pad/ tug boats you could build

 

Edit: Or even better an adjustable height under water launch pad.

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by Ryaja

[Second Hand Rocket Science]

When KSP 2 comes out, there will definitely be a new world of designs and "build hacks". For example, filling a massive stretched 5m fairing in KSP 1 and stuffing it full of fuel tanks works as a sort of botched mega fuel tank. Something similar could be used. And who knows? KSP 2 is still in development. 7.5m+ fuel tanks or even procedural tanks could be announced before launch!

Edited May 14, 2022 by Second Hand Rocket Science

[Bej Kerman]

8 hours ago, Rutabaga22 said:

I think that orbital assembly should be something you have to unlock in science/career mode

Said with the initial assumption the devs wanted to give it to you from the start?

[Second Hand Rocket Science]

KSP 2 is going interstellar. How else are we supposed to get to other systems? Single Launch is pretty much out of the question judging on spacecraft part diameters and parameters.

Edited May 14, 2022 by Second Hand Rocket Science

[Bej Kerman]

33 minutes ago, Second Hand Rocket Science said:

KSP 2 is going interstellar. How else are we supposed to get to other systems? Single Launch is pretty much out of the question judging on spacecraft part diameters and parameters.

Has already been explained in immaculate detail - both in posts pertaining to KSP 2 and just generally about interstellar travel in our future IRL.

[t_v]

2 hours ago, Second Hand Rocket Science said:

KSP 2 is going interstellar. How else are we supposed to get to other systems? Single Launch is pretty much out of the question judging on spacecraft part diameters and parameters.

The poster wasn’t  advocating for single launch, they were wondering about being able to launch station parts for orbital assembly- those parts are large enough to necessitate massive rockets for each one of them, which results in the request for larger lifter parts to be able to build those stations. 

[shdwlrd]

I'm guessing that people aren't realizing that once you've built a colony on another planet or moon you don't have to launch everything from Kerbin. Colonial VABs have been confirmed and will make launching very heavy payloads into space much easier. Imagine how large of a ship or station you can launch from Gilly or Bop. You just can't do it from the get-go, it will take time to build a colony up. 

Or the possibility that they are too impatience and would want to go interstellar within the first hour of the game. Without discovering which stars you can travel to or the necessary tech to even make the journey feasible. 

We'll never know what the actual reason is.

PS, see dragon will never be a thing in KSP2, there are actual physical limits for what you can build in the VAB. So the sea dragon as conceptualized, will never fit.

Edited May 14, 2022 by shdwlrd

[Kerb24]

3 minutes ago, shdwlrd said:

I'm guessing that people aren't realizing that once you've built a colony on another planet or moon you don't have to launch everything from Kerbin. Colonial VABs have been confirmed and will make launching very heavy payloads into space much easier. Imagine how large of a ship or station you can launch from Gilly or Bop. You just can't do it from the get-go, it will take time to build a colony up. 

But you still need to get the first parts of the colony to said planet or moon. You will need to have large launch vehicles.

[shdwlrd]

6 hours ago, Kerb24 said:

But you still need to get the first parts of the colony to said planet or moon. You will need to have large launch vehicles.

Very true, but what size rocket do you need to launch a space version of camping to orbit? That will be the starting colonies. (See the mod  Pathfinder for an example of what I'm talking about.) So the sea dragon isn't necessary.

[Axelord FTW]

Dammit forum stop letting me cancel a post and then still post it anyway!
Ignore this.

Edited May 15, 2022 by Axelord FTW

[Axelord FTW]

13 hours ago, shdwlrd said:

PS, see dragon will never be a thing in KSP2, there are actual physical limits for what you can build in the VAB. So the sea dragon as conceptualized, will never fit.

That's just backward logic. There will either be a way to stretch out of the VAB whilst in it or there will be another, superior tier to the VAB that doesn't care about volume (whether or not it will be only be accessible for space construction is another matter). We already know some parts in KSP2 will be too big in and of themselves to fit in the VAB as we know it. So you know, that torch drive is bigger than the Sea Dragon main stage engine bell. There's obviously a solution for this. Hangar Extender (or any equivalent part of an overhaul mod, etc.) is a de-facto necessity for KSP1 as soon as you start looking at bigger crafts, and I'm willing to bet KSP2 will have something like that out of the gate.

Size is also of no issue when you simply need to strap on more boosters.

I wonder how close the finished product will be to Extraplanetary Launchpads, or if it'll use a completely different approach. I kinda like building stuff in space, or on other worlds. While boosters are one of the solutions, sending stuff in bits and pieces is another. Launching containers of raw and processed materials up to LKO is how I built my latest station, which in turn built the last (of four) interstellar ships in my current KSP1 playthrough. Once you get an operation stable on the Mun or Minmus, and as soon as it can start producing materials, then you're golden. The initial installation cost is prohibitive, but it very quickly becomes viable. Heck, I sometime boost my funds by returning highly valuable materials to Kerbin to cash in. I don't feel like this is cheap or cheat-y because this is literally on the books in real life. It's one of the major driving force behind the current space boom.