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Maximum Delta-V rocket


Arganth

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Hey :D

what is the biggest rocket in terms of delta-v you built?

I was toying around with mechjeb and the stock parts and

it seems i cannot get really above 11k delta-v :0.0:

Whats the biggest one you have built? :cool:

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My Moho Runner 4 spacecraft, built as part of the intended rescue mission for Moho BUSTAAAH! had about 22.7 km/s of Vacuum Delta-V on the pad.

upSfWgQl.jpg

At some point, I may go back to 0.19 and finish that mission.

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This:

That would be theoretical limits for a single stage rocket. With staging, you can certainly do better. Heck, I was at 13K delta-v purely with stock chemical rockets trying for one of the reddit weekly challenges, and I could have pushed it farther.

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From back in 0.17: Somewhere around 21 km/s available after reaching orbit, if you flew it right. (the 7 inner tanks made it to orbit full)

Flying_Spiderweb_VAB.png

I'm half-expecting someone to post a high mass ratio ion design now...

edit: This was a proposed design for getting into a low orbit around Kerbol. It has 29 km/s ÃŽâ€V, but needs a launcher. The overall system would be ~34 km/s, but would be a PITA to construct.

highdV0191A_zpsf7229904.png

Edited by UmbralRaptor
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Duna isn't hard at all, this was my first attempt, only recently:

screenshot123.png

Goes to Duna, lander lands and takes back off (docking without RCS is a bit hard, but you could just EVA over), and the propulsion stage still has half its fuel, a few 1000 delta V to spare to get home.

The only mod on board is the zero mass Mechjeb pod on the side, but its easy enough to fly without, I used it mainly to keep an eye on the Delta-V.

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This: O1dN4.png
That would be theoretical limits for a single stage rocket. With staging, you can certainly do better. Heck, I was at 13K delta-v purely with stock chemical rockets trying for one of the reddit weekly challenges, and I could have pushed it farther.

But you're not using the chart correctly.

I have a theoretical rocket with 90% LV fuelmass (so 17000)

That rocket is propelled by another LV rocket giving 60% fuel mass (so 7000)

That rocket is propelled by another LV rocket giving 30% fuel mass (so 3000)

Optimize stages to increase % Fuel-Mass ratios.

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four NERVAs with a single orange tank has about 9k Dv. If you put an ion probe on the top of that (7 fuel cells) then you could get another 15k easily. about 46T to LKO.

Why you would need that much though?

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four NERVAs with a single orange tank has about 9k Dv. If you put an ion probe on the top of that (7 fuel cells) then you could get another 15k easily. about 46T to LKO.

Why you would need that much though?

I can think of one reason: A tanker to refuel another ship stuck in orbit around Moho.

That's what most of my high delta-v designs have spent the last few weeks trying to do just before the 0.20 update.

On that note, I had a nice system going with a tug and a modular fuel tank that had ~9000 - 10,000 dV in orbit, not counting the launch vehicle (possibly more if you dropped the fuel tank as soon as it emptied out, but I never actually tested that).

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Why you would need that much though?
Getting a probe into a low semi-major axis, low eccentricity orbit around the star. Visiting lots of planets/moons. Simulating an interstellar mission by seeing how fast you can escape from the star.
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had an ion probe I put into 11 km solar orbit, it had 22 km/s dV, used moded ion engines but could do the same with stock with 4 times the burn time.

Could probably get more out of it if I made some solar panels dropable or made it with less as they are very effective inside Moho orbit.

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That would be theoretical limits for a single stage rocket. With staging, you can certainly do better. Heck, I was at 13K delta-v purely with stock chemical rockets trying for one of the reddit weekly challenges, and I could have pushed it farther.

It would be entertaining to see a ridiculously high-delta-v staged ion vehicle (just for kicks):) I think for an arbitrarily huge single stage ion the max delta-v approaches 36000 m/s. Of course the thing would have poorer acceleration than a mosquito stuck in molasses but still...

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  • 9 months later...

Blah, delta-v isn't all that matters. TWR is very important as well, and most of these ships that have 10k plus have a TWR of something dreadful. My best lander has 9k DV with a TWR of .4 (handily enough to not take millennia to transfer as well as being able to land almost anywhere!) on orbit, and only weighs something like 30 tons I think. It can be attached to a transfer stage of any size (again with the .4 minimum) to literally go anywhere and back no problem. I've completed missions with it that have hit 4+ bodies. The trick is to just keep weight to an absolute minimum. Theres no reason to build monstrous crafts with 8 billion units of fuel and one NERVA to get to the farther places.

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My go to probe setup has all the various science things, including two goo pods and a materials bay, is FAR compatible (looks roughly like a rocket), and is about 17k vacuum dV on the pad. I initially built it for moho (still haven't made orbit around moho...), but it's gone everywhere in the system now. Even landed a few places. You only get one landing though, and good luck keeping the engine alive during said landing! It's not really built for that.

YTCuDJS.jpg

Edited by Bobnova
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If you mean in a single stage, from the ground, more than 11k is a difficult prospect - in fact more than 5k is a serious challenge. Once you're in space though, you have infinite delta-V available since there's no TWR requirements (other than your patience) - you can literally stick an ion engine on the back of 500 xenon tanks and have like 18247074502 m/s of delta-V.

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