Gordon Fecyk

Ignore the "Steam" bits then, and follow the rest of the troubleshooting steps I suggested. It's the same software.

(I put it in a spoiler in case folks wanted to find out for themselves.)

Just in case you have Kopernicus installed, v1.3.0-4's ground scatter is broken. I had to revert to 1.3.0-2 to replace ground scatter.
Otherwise, if this is full stock, I do know ground scatter sometimes doesn't load until a scene change. Even switching to and from a distant craft would suffice.

If you want to control this from the Space Center directly, the probe needs to see a relay probe that can see the Space Center somehow. If there were a crew on that service craft and the number of pilots required was met, you could control probes from that crewed service craft without that craft needing a KSC connection. However, the crewed craft still needs a relay antenna to do so. 

Here we go again... running into this, by chance?
The cause of this was an unsupported version of MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Server. Updating the RivaTuner server to 7.0 beta fixed this.
KSP runs just fine on Win10 1703 with no third-party hacks installed. I went through two test potato PCs and three revisions of RivaTuner to verify this.

OK, after considerable time, and remembering I had enough tech for launch clamps, I finally came up with this:

Here's the craft. Requires OhioBob's Eve Optimized Engines as before. The launch profile goes something like this:
Highlight first engine stage, select SAS Hold, then launch. Stage first six engines away, followed by next six engines. Keep monitoring those fuel tanks. At 10 to 13 km up depending on payload mass, select SAS Prograde, or try your best to follow prograde. Stage away next three engines when empty. Stage away final four engines; by this time ship should point around 45 degrees at 45 to 50 km up, and have orbital speed just over 1 km/s. If not, abort and restart. Continue following orbital prograde up to apoapsis of your choice, close your orbit as normal. This four tourist contraption has a payload mass of 3.38 tonnes. It uses one extra small reaction wheel. And as the engineer's report tells us, it just fits on the Tier 2 launch pad. Returning didn't even require any ablator on the heat shield, but things got hairy at 40 km on the way down. Autostrut saved the craft, and it returned safely. Video is coming.

I think there's a pending contract on that ship. Check Mission Control for a new contract that might apply to that craft; maybe they want to expand it or move it to a different orbit.

Persistent.sfs is a save file that KSP makes in every folder in 'saves.' It works like any other save file except it's the one that loads automatically when you open a saved game from the main menu, and it's also the target of auto-saving, I think.
You're better off saving the game from the Kerbal Space Center screen and giving the save file a unique name. Better yet, make two, so you can load the unedited save in case things go wrong. You can then edit the second save file using your favourite text editor, even while KSP is still running, then load the edited save file. Details are in the KSP Wiki under "Modifying Kerbals."

I have to concur with Tex_NL; the contract panel on the top-right indicates you haven't fulfilled the "Build a new unmanned probe" condition. This and the space station / base contracts require new craft constructed and launched after accepting the contract.
I've done a couple of these in 1.2.1 Career and they seem to work with the HG-5 antenna without complaint.
One way to check is to put the craft on the pad or runway and check the remaining contract conditions to make sure they are fulfilled. If the only remaining step is to deliver it to its intended destination, then you're ready to take it there.
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