Wolf's Space Station Service Vehicles

[PDCWolf]

Yesterday I took on the task to make a LKO Space Station, I called it the "BinariaSS" (Binaria would be the feminine of "Binary" -as adj.- in Spanish). It was a most entertaining job, as it was my first KSP rendezvous. I had previous experience from orbiter sim so it was rather easy but still entertaining and challenging.

It started as something simple, the first thing that went into space was the "Solar Array 1", which was made in a way that it would reach orbit and then stay there deployed awaiting for the rest of the station, so that there wouldn't be any lack of power in case of failed launches that could leave the station and it's occupants powerlessly drifting in space.

Once I built the main module (a T-C4N on top of a Stor Module which is also on top of a T-C4N) I was right about to launch it and then I said "WAIT, How do I dock it if there's no way to maneuver this thing in space" (This came to me because I realized that using the last stage of the launcher to make the docking would leave an enormous debris near the space station and that the smallest disturbance could make them crash against each other.

That was the spark I needed to create the first spaceship you'll see now:

The Orbitug

Here you can see the Orbitug docked to the right of the already functioning and crowded BinariaSS

The Orbitug is a non-heavy easy to maneuver spacecraft with a clamp-o-tron docking port and an adapter on it that links to a Clamp-O-Tron junior. The ship contains loads of RCS which are more than enough to complete multiple orbital operations before refueling.

With the Orbitug ready, I launched it and docked it to the solar array, a most successful operation.

Orbitug Files:

Launcher-less: http://www./?m4v8kivfkjvq4w4 (Plain text format: http://pastebin.com/8AcCMzrk - Copy contents to a txt file on your ships folder and save as .craft)

Great!, now I had a station for 8 people with only 2 guys, how sad. Then again, necessity is the key to inventions, and thus came the time to design a spaceship capable of transferring crew to and from the station. Again, I remembered my times in orbiter in which I played with a ESA inspired addon called the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) used to send food and other stuff to the ISS, and so I decided to create a big brother for it that, instead of sending food to the station, were able to send people.

CTV - Crew Transfer Vehicle

The CTV on it's launcher's last stage.

Fully deployed CTV getting close to the Binaria.

CTV capsule separating from the rest of the ship in preparation for the reentry, the top separator stays there until the dynamic pressure rises.

CTV Files:

With LKO-Capable Launcher: http://www./?59hsj7r31u74r68 (Plain text format: http://pastebin.com/ZQm03jUK )

Launcher-less: http://www./download.php?p2cuu2otimj5f4j (Plain text format: http://pastebin.com/RAxwsWLg )

Now, the station had 2 more members (Yes, one of them stays in the CTV to pilot it back to Kerbin) but the Orbitug was almost out of RCS, making any other orbital operation and further expansion of the Binaria impossible. That alone forced me to make an RCSTanker, a small, lightweight, cheap way to refuel the tug and cover any other monopropellant need.

RCSTanker

Although a bit impractical, the RCSTanker does the job pretty well, and for dirt cheap in terms of weight. Here we have it on a direct VtV dock with the orbitug

The "tip" is fully recoverable

RCSTanker Files:

With LKO-Capable Launcher: http://www./?c6e7thbb84ps5t1 (Plain text format: http://pastebin.com/6T0VFghP )

Launcher-Less: http://www./?llmkvybob3tjwyo (Plain text format: http://pastebin.com/kWeVaeUS )

As I said, this solution was a bit impractical for bigger ships because of the numerous rounded tanks. It was time for a big brother (and a little brother for the CTV), so then came the UTV (Unmanned Transfer Vehicle - I didn't want to name it ATV as it already exists IRL and doesn't look like it at all.)

The UTV undocking from the BinariaSS, ready to go back. The "tip" is detachable and has parachutes, so it's fully reusable.

UTV Files:

With LKO-Capable Launcher: http://www./?t2m82zagf2lljbr (Plain text format: http://pastebin.com/2c3hQATs )

Launcher-Less: http://www./?nn5so2xvssc1yrs (Plain text format: http://pastebin.com/QgWiPHAP )

Now the Binaria is nearly completed, but the road to completion is fully paved and turned into a highway thanks to these ships.

And that completes the Space Station Service Vehicles that I created out of necessity, I hope they are as useful to you as they were to me.

The BinariaSS as of now, with the Orbitug ready to receive and operate future expansion modules.

If somebody wants, I can upload the BinariaSS modules (it consist of T-C4Ns, Storage modules and 2 asymmetrical solar arrays).

[CtrlAltEL1TE]

These are really sweet, took a copy of your RCS tanker for my fuel depot , already had a similer tug already build there.

[Merinsan]

They look great!

I started doing stuff like that too, when building a fuel depot. I launched fuel, then sent a tug to pick it up and dock with the depot. My designs slowly evolved (Mk 11 now), till about Mk 9 I started attaching small probes with a small RCS supply to do the docking before separating to deorbit. I'm now giving serious thought of deorbiting the tug that is still there, since it just adds lag, although I recently used it to refuel another large ship in orbit.

My current station with crew is neglected, and poorly designed. I'm going to have to start a new one with a large crew compliment. Then I'll need manned ships again.

[PDCWolf]

Just for the record, here's the ATV for those who don't know it:

[Cpt Cornelius]

These look really cool and would probably be helpful if I could actually manage to get them to catch up with my space station