What's the Largest Rocket you've ever built? Interplanetary and Launchers Mostly

[septemberWaves]

As soon as 1.2 is released and Necrobones' mods are updated, I am going to find an excuse for updating my old 7.5m Gaia launch systems. Lately I updated all of my launch vehicles to support a far more modular design with separate upper and lower stages - except the Gaia series, because the 5m Sarnus vehicles can take a few thousand tonnes to orbit with the most powerful launch configuration. The Gaia series should extend that to at least five thousand tonnes with the maximum launch configuration of 7 clustered maximum-power upper stages (which are so far unnamed) and 7 clustered maximum-power lower stages (which I think will use the Gaia 5 design). I might even be able to extend that to a six thousand tonne payload by adding some of the largest SpaceY SRBs. I'll post some pictures when I get this done, because whilst it's nowhere near the scale of some of the vehicles in this thread, the maximum power Gaia lifter is pretty large for a vehicle that uses a semi-realistic design.

The difficulty will be finding a payload with a mass of 5000 tonnes to give these launch vehicles a good reason to exist. I've recently gotten into the habit of limiting my payloads to set fairing shapes as well, which will make it incredibly difficult I think to find a payload that I can make good use of the Gaia launch vehicles for - I can launch a nuclear-augmented Empress upper stage (the maximum power 5m upper stage, with engines and fuel contents altered for use as a nuclear transfer stage instead of a chemical upper stage) easily with the Sarnus series of lifters, so I'll really have to consider what might be a good use of 5000 tonnes in a single launch.

[problemecium]

I'm in the process of field testing my largest SSTO lift rocket yet:

The estimated payload to-orbit capacity is 250 tons. Unlike all of my previous rockets, this is so large that the necessary amount of parachutes to land it unpowered is prohibitive in terms of weight and part count, so it is only capable of powered landings on solid, level terrain.

[torchard96]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fd22yv26tc2estc/front_Erebus lander module_1.png?dl=0

It may not look like much but that capsule up at the top is 4m across, and the whole thing is only 10m shorter than the saturn V and weighed over 24,000 tons.

It was designed to launch into (low) orbit around Tau Ceti e in the RSS extrasolar mod, and it barely does it due to the 2 times surface gravity and orbital velocity.

I've since refined the design to almost one fortieth the mass at just over 600 tons.

[septemberWaves]

SpaceY has 10m diameter parts now. I'm expecting some impressively huge things in this thread.

[ImperatorOsiryx]

On 10/8/2016 at 6:18 PM, eloquentJane said:

As soon as 1.2 is released and Necrobones' mods are updated, I am going to find an excuse for updating my old 7.5m Gaia launch systems. Lately I updated all of my launch vehicles to support a far more modular design with separate upper and lower stages - except the Gaia series, because the 5m Sarnus vehicles can take a few thousand tonnes to orbit with the most powerful launch configuration. The Gaia series should extend that to at least five thousand tonnes with the maximum launch configuration of 7 clustered maximum-power upper stages (which are so far unnamed) and 7 clustered maximum-power lower stages (which I think will use the Gaia 5 design). I might even be able to extend that to a six thousand tonne payload by adding some of the largest SpaceY SRBs. I'll post some pictures when I get this done, because whilst it's nowhere near the scale of some of the vehicles in this thread, the maximum power Gaia lifter is pretty large for a vehicle that uses a semi-realistic design.

The difficulty will be finding a payload with a mass of 5000 tonnes to give these launch vehicles a good reason to exist. I've recently gotten into the habit of limiting my payloads to set fairing shapes as well, which will make it incredibly difficult I think to find a payload that I can make good use of the Gaia launch vehicles for - I can launch a nuclear-augmented Empress upper stage (the maximum power 5m upper stage, with engines and fuel contents altered for use as a nuclear transfer stage instead of a chemical upper stage) easily with the Sarnus series of lifters, so I'll really have to consider what might be a good use of 5000 tonnes in a single launch.

How about an interplanetary ship? I've never built one, so I don't know how big interplanetary ships can get, but 5000 tons should be enough.

[septemberWaves]

1 hour ago, ImperatorOsiryx said:

How about an interplanetary ship? I've never built one, so I don't know how big interplanetary ships can get, but 5000 tons should be enough.

The problem then becomes part count. Most of my interplanetary vehicles don't exceed 700 tonnes even when fully loaded with cargo, but they pretty much always have well over 200 parts. I don't have the best computer, so I can't launch things like that fully assembled.

A huge nuclear transfer stage might be an option though, if I can make one that's big enough.

[Tomato29]

On 28/10/2016 at 11:50 AM, eloquentJane said:

SpaceY has 10m diameter parts now. I'm expecting some impressively huge things in this thread.

I've recently built a monster launcher "the behhemoth" that weighs 6400 tons usin tweakscaled to 7.5m spaceY parts. I use it to get in orbit enormous payloads like fuel compartments for a long mission

Edited April 28, 2017 by Tomato29

[GRS]

Anybody home ?!

I made a 10.000 ton ship with no parts bigger than 3.75 m, it's purposed to be interplanetary and roughly 30 stages

[PBAiden1000]

Honestly, my builds will go BIG! And I mean big. When you want to launch a 600,000 ton payload into orbit all in one piece? Come to me. With Starship Alpha, my flagship of my fleet of interstellar transfer vehicles, its the largest of its class. This payload weighs in at over 600,000 tons and is comprised of over 2000 parts. Heavily modded save file, I will warn. The mods that I use are as follows (the ones I can name off the top of my head): Mechjeb, Kerbal Attachment System, Kerbal Inventory System, Kerbal Space Program Interstellar Extended. Tac Life Support, Kerbal Engineer Redux, Extended Hanger <--- (craft would be impossible to build without it), Planet Shine, KoS Scriptable Autopilot, Kerbal Star Systems, Copernicus for KSS, EVE (Environmental Visual Enhancements), Kerbal Station Parts Expansion Redux (Centrifuge modules are from this), Hull Cameras, Strobe Lights, Grounded Ground Vehicles, Flexodocking Flexible Docking Ports, Planetary Base Expansions, and some others that I can't think of right now. Also, does anybody know what the largest craft that was ever built is? I don't trust those Youtube videos as claiming to be the largest.

P.S. I will include photo once I can get it. Photo is of Starship Alpha, not the others in the fleet. Starship Alpha is the largest of the fleet and the largest craft I've ever built! Makes me so proud that I got this thing into orbit all in one piece, no orbital construction required!

 

P.P.S. I don't think I can include the precise weight, mass, length, etc.; Because Kerbal Space Program doesn't load the VAB on that save file, LOL. Probably because it's too busy calculating the constant trajectory of that behemoth in orbit (I haven't sent it interstellar yet since it's supposed to stay there until the rest of the fleet arrives in orbit.

[LitteXMan808]

I used every engine and fuel tank in the game and made a ship the size of the VAB

[Vanamonde]

So let's see it.