Ultimate Steve

Budget thing understandable. I would really like if there was a docking plan, however, once the modules are all designed. Can you imagine what would happen if the ISS was built without a docking plan...

Now it's perfectly feasible. We only need one independent designer for Stage 12 and we are ready for liftoff. Do you want to participate by any chance? I'm not supposed to. Also there's still the crew/cargo vehicles, budget considerations, and a general plan of what will dock to what, but you are almost done with the proposal and module planning phase.

...Alright. I would prefer if you didn't utilize this, but I guess separating designs from launches could be alright... The limit is now 2 designs accepted and 3 modules launched.

Correct, and I'm sorry if I'm being confusing, but there can only be two modules launched per person and 2 modules accepted per person, regardless if they are the same design or not.

Again, I would like to stress that the limit is 2 modules per person. While some people have suggested more than two modules (which is fine) only two per person can be on the final list. thank you for taking the time to organize the plan, though!

Hmm, now that's something that I didn't consider, and it wasn't really intending for an SSTO to be proposed... But, I didn't consciously make any rules against it. From the rules: Man rating guidelines for crew vehicles: Backup parachute Backup electrical systems  Can land on both water and land Must possess a launch escape system that will work at any point during ascent Must have a docking port Must have full RCS capability Must have an antenna  Must not use EVA seats Must be able to operate without a crew Must launch on a man rated launch vehicle If crew and cargo vehicles are reusable, the cost of that vehicle will be dropped to 33%. End rules. It looks like those rules would encourage a traditional capsule design, but if your spaceplane is cheap enough, because it is a lifter and a crew vehicle, it *could* possibly drop the cost per flight to below the cost of a reusable capsule and an expendable lifter. The only thing I have a problem with is the last bullet point, must launch on a man rated launch vehicle. And this isn't part of the rules, but I said it earlier in the thread: When I wrote the "man rated launch vehicle" requirement I was not thinking of spaceplanes, so because it's sort of a grey area... Sure, but just this once. New rule: Overall, one SSTO can be accepted for either a crew vehicle or a cargo vehicle. The government is intrigued by this idea and will pay for it to be man-rated if it follows these guidelines: Can go-around on landing No solids except in abort system At least some margin Adhere to all of the normal crew vehicle guidelines I will make the final decision on man rating and will provide suggestions, etc. You may propose it, but it's up to everyone else if it gets in. Luckily, there isn't much competition in that department yet. EDIT: There is a new requirement for man rated capsules. It must be able to operate without crew.

@Rover 6428 posted a possible list back, you could take something that isn't taken, or a better variant of something that exists, or something completely new. Also consider that big is not necessarily better, especially with the 600,000 fund budget. Excellent job! Also excellent job! Be advised that, overall, the station needs: Have the materials bay, goo, thermometer, barometer, gravioli detector, seismometer, surface scanner, atmosphere sensor, sentinel telescope, and narrow band scanner on board. As in Part II. Those last 2 science experiments might benefit from launching on something else, though. Be advised, these experiments also get a bit expensive. Also be advised that you're submitting an awful lot of stuff. To be honest, guys, this is already going a whole lot better than I'd expected it to! Great job to all, and I wish you continued success!

Ah, sorry! You said "non-tourists" and not "scientists" and I assumed "scientist."

Nice! Will this count as a resupply vehicle? And in that case, will fuel count as "supplies" as well as fuel? If not, I think you may run into the "2 craft 1 vehicle" restriction. Fortunately, it looks like we will have more than 8 modules, so it will be 2 and 1 instead of 1 and 1. If not, the Cupola and EVA modules will count as your 2 and the fuel resupply ship will count as your 1 craft, assuming they get approved by the rest of the team. Looks good except for one thing. The vernier engines are from the expansion, replace those with stock engines (maybe twitches or thuds) and you're good to go! Researchers require 2 seats of non-lab space and 1 seat of lab space, but that was a bit unclear, I'll edit the OP. Also I noticed in the schedule that one science module built by one person is listed three times, for three launches. I didn't say anything specific about launching identical modules, but they count as their own modules, as in one person can launch 1 (or 2 if there are more than 8 modules total, which it looks like there may be), no matter if it is identical or not to another module. It was not my intent for people to launch other people's designs, but if you want to go that route then I guess you probably can. I didn't make a rule against it. Also, if I were you, I'd watch your budget. Module cost + launch vehicle retail price (listed in the OP) may grow faster than expected. I currently count ~201k for Johnster's 2 modules, transfer vehicle, and launch vehicles, out of a 600k budget. The small launch vehicles are there for a reason! If you can't push it above 8 modules and remain within budget, you can only launch 1 module and 1 vehicle.

One thing, before you get too invested in that, no RTGs are allowed on the station for safety reasons.

I didn't end up having jettisoning stuff on the final design. It turned out not to be necessary. After 40 named iterations, I present to you: The DA24! Instructions: Set SAS, face forward Full throttle Space As fuel is at 1/8-ish, toggle brakes. When fuel runs out, immediately press space a second time. At this point the craft sometimes starts steering back and forth rapidly. Correct with wheel steering, not yaw, if you have set your wheel controls to ijkl. If not, yaw should still work, but no gauntness. If you haven't exploded yet, bleed off the last 10-15m/s of velocity with steering, as those wheels don't actually have brakes AFAIK. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1UMUyDLRPKzO90wsYUifUwT7B6syRvE-G (Craft file link)

These six things must be agreed upon before launches can begin: The budgets/costs for each module The designs for each modules How the modules will fit together on the station What order the launches will occur in Who will launch each module Crew and resupply schedule for the first year of operations as well as a sales strategy for the seats (tourist vs. scientist) It would also probably be a good idea to come up with a name for the station.

Question. Can the dragster jettison parts?

Restock shouldn't affect your end when he gives you the craft. Just like Scatter, EVE, etc. don't affect craft performance or craft files. Or KER for that matter.

Restock ? I don't know what you mean, can you explain ? It's a mod that re-textures most of KSP's parts. I'm not completely sure, but it might also slightly alter the aerodynamic qualities of parts, but if it does (and I'm not sure if it does), the overall impact should be negligible.

And to reiterate again, it can't happen before everything is finalized, and it comes out of the budget.

So I'm not allowed to make suggestions, but I am compelled to point out possible rules violations. Just to reiterate, each crew and cargo vehicle needs to be tested on an unmanned test flight before it is launched. Also, any crewed flights cannot sell seats to scientists or tourists unless the tourist/scientist guidelines are meant. Currently, the first crew wouldn't have anything to do and you wouldn't receive financial compensation for them. And I'm really not supposed to suggest stuff, but I'll throw you one bone. Currently your finished station can support only two scientists as it has only one research lab. I don't know how big the station is planned to be, but for comparison, the real ISS has three laboratories with another one scheduled to be launched. Hmm... Maybe I can add more passenger types... I'll think about it and let you know eventually, I don't want to confuse y'all too much.

I've created a challenge partially based off of this thread, just so you know:

I think it's easy to overlook, but I'm pretty sure you're only allowed one module and one transfer vehicle (either crew or cargo) each, but you can propose both if you want.

No and no.

That depends on how many crew should be on the station, budget, and whether or not it will be used as a crew launch capsule as well.

Yes, the rockets mentioned in Part III are the ones you have to use. Kerbal XM and Muon 6 are man rated and you can pay to have Sky III man rated if need be. The download links are in part XI, let me know if they aren't working.

Just remember that whatever crew/cargo vehicles you design, they need to fly on existing rockets!

Looking at the thread, I think it should be fine, the impact appears to be minimal, just don't abuse any of the changes.