68k Fuel to 250km Orbit - 70MN - No Asparagus - Largest Rocket I Ever Built

[GoodGameHunter]

I built the Hyperion with the following goals in mind:

- maintain a beautiful, aerodynamic design;

- do not abuse asparagus staging (must look like an actual rocket);

- carry as much fuel as possible into a 250km orbit, within a single run;

- autonomous control;

- able to relocate on its own, anywhere within the solar system;

- full connectivity with all docking port sizes;

- all-round lighting for no-headaches, dark side docking operations;

- electrical autonomy without bulky solar panels that get in the way of docking maneuvers;

- dual axis large docking clamps to allow chaining with other stations/ships on both ends;

- able to function both as a disposable fuel tanker/tank, fuel station or as an interplanetary tug.

What I managed to achieve, is a hangar-tall rocket with a sleek aerodynamic design, 70MN thrust and 2.6 mil kerbucks cost that can put 68k units of fuel into a 250km orbit and has efficient space-based engines that can carry it anywhere within the solar system to act as a disposable fuel base. From an economic point of view, it is cheaper to have a very large mobile fuel station that you can move anywhere you need it and dispose of it once its fuel has been used up, instead of making multiple smaller launches. However, the Hyperion fuel hub (what I call the actual station module) can double as a fully functional space station so it is up to you if you decide whether to keep it in orbit and refuel it once it's empty, or drop it and launch another one to replace it.

Stock craft download: http://goo.gl/012BRi

Enjoy!

Edited August 19, 2014 by GoodGameHunter

[Megalodon 720]

Holy Kraken! That's huge!

[GoodGameHunter]

Yeah I barely got it to fit in the hangar, the tip is almost poking through the roof lol. Which raises the question, how do the kerbals get it on the launch pad, since it's larger than the hangar door...

[Megalodon 720]

They tip it sideways.

[TrooperCooper]

Nah, the Kerbal way of getting it out the VAB is to attach a crapload of boosters to the building and lift it off the rocket... then roll the vessel to the pad.

Nice job.

[Biff]

God, this thing would maul my computer. Sorry but not downloading it.

[GoodGameHunter]

Yeah you need to have a strong computer to fly that thing, lots of hi-tech avionics involved I got an I7 and you can see it's not doing too great.

[Camaron]

Dang, I wish KSP Physics could multi-thread. I'd build a dual-12-core from stashed merch I have in a heartbeat just to play a game. (I have two E.S. E5-2695 V2's and boards to run them. Theoretically, it would yield me almost 50 times the parts ceiling we have now if it could only multithread!)

Sweet fuel tanker.

[GoodGameHunter]

I doubt they'll ever be able to add multi-thread support to this game, actually I guess the Unity guys must do it for their physics engine.