Reusables

Impractical with single gravity assist. It will only change direction of relative velocity to the planet, flipping it at best. So you need to approach the planet with 2 times the orbital velocity of the planet to go retrograde. That costs more dv to plot those trajectories for inner planets. (They can't deflect your orbit much with the speed) Shooting Jool could do it in single assist, but it should be better to use Tylo (or Laythe).

They might have too low TWR. As more TWR means more dv generally, and the engines will be recovered, I should add more engines. (More Boosters!) Anyway, @CairoJack, would you show your attempt?

Well, I can do 3 funds/kg with Retrance ll2. I think I can lift your sats in two launches as my Retrance ll2 can lift 1.9~2t to LKO in 6000 funds. With the light payloada it'll have some dv on LKO, so I can taxi them around.

How did you get them as craft file? Besides, FMRS is not allowed.

I kind of lost it now. It may be something about difference between potential players and general playerbase who mam buy this game... but I can't recall exactly.

Please show me the location of the VAB folder and screenshot of ship browsi f screen in VAB.

Just realized that one of the four was Russian, which should be more related with history of space program than profit. Sorry about that.

Oh I missed this. Sorry. I don't have the exact version of it now, but possible entries are here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/13b2rchjw8hioeh/AAC6VwTb2nF4ZC4MUb5P_Ioba?dl=0 EDIT: Welp, I didn't know that this one is hard to fly for an average pilots. I may try this challenge myself with these lifters.

I want to see how hard it is to fly my reusable rockets. Try to fly it, and tell me dv you get on the orbit! Craft Files: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/13b2rchjw8hioeh/AAC6VwTb2nF4ZC4MUb5P_Ioba?dl=0 Flight Instructions> Rules> - No cheating. - Don't change the payload. - Don't crossfeed fuel through the decoupler. - Post screenshots of gravity turn, separation, circularization and recovery of each stage. - Allowed mods: KER, V.O.I.D, Visual mods. No StageRecovery / FMRS. Score> Dv you got on the orbit. Entries> - Reusable ll2: - Reusable L1: - Reusable L1,5: Note: 1. I fly these in daily basis, so yes it's certainly practical. I can post my entry if you request it. 2. These enables 350~400/t to LKO in relatively early career.

Welp. I didn't know that I have some skills. I think ll2 is slightly bugged, it might be the problem. (Also it may be better to burn till Ap is on 85km and hold pitch to 10deg till 90km)

Can't agree more. It nullifies use of Aerospike on career as atmospheric engine. (It's significantly cheaper than Aerospike, and has better atmospheric TWR) I rather think that Swivel needs some redesign. (Especially the weight; It's 0.25t heavier and has 40kN less thrust)

I just tested that my Retrance ll2 can launch 1.6t to polar orbit, so I can launch both at once with large margin. Separator cost will be added, so that's 6500. If you want it to be launched separately, it'll be 12000. Isn't it fine deal?

I don't like Stage Recovery & FMRS. They looks too overpowered to me. @AeroGav, here are my lifters: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/13b2rchjw8hioeh/AAC6VwTb2nF4ZC4MUb5P_Ioba?dl=0 Generally, turn rocket 5 degrees around 60m/s works for my reusable rockets. The speed may vary per lifter. Hold to prograde after that. (Start the pitchover 10m/s earlier than the speed, pitching 5 degrees is sometimes not so easy) It doesn't like payloads far from aerodynamic shape, like ones with blunt edges. If ship description persists, there will be flight instructions. In case it's lost: The first stage would have to reach 100m/s with 5deg pitch, and should reach 340m/s with 70 deg pitch. Just before separation it must reach 60deg pitch. (near 700m/s) After the first stage separation, set pitch to 45 degrees and raise apoapsis to 90km~100km 85~90km, and burn horizontally after that. This is to give the first stage time to fall. Burn till the first stage reaches 26km. Set throttle to zero and switch to the first stage just after that. (On the map view) The first stage will fall rapidly, and parachute will slow it down just before hitting the water. Switch to the second stage at the very moment it gets under 1m/s. After that, gain lateral speed with pitch on 10~15deg. This is to prevent falling to the atmosphere. It should be similar with this one: My 5t lifter is not finished(I thought bicoupler is not visual), but one may be able to lift both mun/minmus lander at once with modified 10t lifter. Spark instead of Terrier will shave some weight for that. EDIT: I had a issue here; Those won't form orbit as high as 100km Ap.;

It would be better to evaluate in playerbase, but it was still good estimate. I just want to point this out: There should be many people worldwide who can read easy English. But it would be better for those to have Localization for their first language. My complaint is that the 'Localization Update' only covered 4 languages. This is rather suspicious, because it looks like they are specially chosen to expand userbase as much as possible in minimal effort. (As many games I saw had at least 6~8 languages at the beginning) (I won't complain even if my first language would never be added)

There is quite a bit of possibility that you don't speak neither of the four languages.

It's ISP is always better than Reliant. The problem is its cost.

Great, I'm looking forward to take a look on the lifters! I had hard time explaining the part, and it was far from success.. I wanted to make a family of lifters, for each payload ton range. I don't want to make hard limits on it. So I made it that lifters on the leaderboard are more efficient than any of those with lighter payload. So 13t lifter on the leaderboard is more efficient than 7t lifter. The 7t lifter can be on the leaderboard as well, if there are no efficient lifter with even more lighter payload. As far as I know, none of the options change cost of common lifters. Reusable part may vary per settings like reentry heating, but it's not adjusted eith easy/normal/moderate/hard. It should be a dead static payload, but just giving more fuel tanks to the lifters will give it enough dv for circularization. Use Ore tanks for dummy payload, as they are handy. I recommend making a dummy career, it does not take much time. (Also useful for other tests related with cost)

I'll upload the craft file, with some launch instructions. It's just TSTO rocket, with both stage are reused via parachutes. I think staged lander design is more efficient than SSTM which should haul the whole plane which is pretty heavier. And LKO with compact cargo becomes reasonable choice with Whiplash, this makes the difference. Also fuel/crew transport to LKO should be much more efficient as well. I once though it's great engine, but it didn't take me much time to realize that it's niche engine for eve & spaceplanes. As an atmospheric engine, it loses to Reliant. It has greater ISP, but it's much more expensive. Even with 98% recovery, you lose 77 per engine! And I typically get 94~96%. As its atmospheric thrust is only 154kN, it has hard time lifting 1.6t of payload per engine. (While Reliant loses 22 per engine and can lift 2t~2.5t) As a vacuum engine, it loses to Poodle. 10s of ISP gain means less fuel consumption. Single Aerospike as a vacuum engine only has a meaning when it can lift 10t of payload, A Poodle is only 0.75t heavier than an Aerospike, which is dwarfed by payload mass (typically near 10t for its thrust) It's a bit better than Terrier, but the gain is not so much. Thanks! I'll unlock those spaceplane nodes after gravioli & refinery.

I like it, but it seems that it costs more than the fuel cost of my Aleph lander which carries a miniature rover in it. I know, precision landing is impossible with this one, in the case I can add some wings. It's definitely overpowered:

I never boostback, as it's more expensive for Kerbals. It's just matter of timing, with a bit of thrill for such a relaxing game. And gravity turn is generous. Again, it's just matter of timing(Turn starting speed). Error of 5m/s is fine for this. Also it's possible to correct a turn before the transonic region. (Remember that any part has a lift now)

Well, mun is much harder than minmus... According to the dv map here:http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Cheat_sheet, Minmus landing takes 1270m/s while Mun landing and back takes 2630m/s. Even minmus landing and back only takes 1610m/s, so 1km/s more on minmus won't cut it...

Thanks for showing me your magnificent works! Though, it seems that Panther spaceplanes won't worth it, as I can do it in competitive cost with reusable rockets. Let's think about crew section with basic science experiments. - Mk1 Crew pod + Mk16 Parachute + 1.25m Service Bay + Probodobodyne HECS + 3 x LT-1 Landing Strut: 1.25t. - Science Jr. + Mystery Goo + Thermometer + Barometer + Accelerometer + Communotron 16-S + 2 x Solar Panel : 0.29t. - Adding 2 Delta-Deluxe wings will grant it Shuttle-type reentry with 100% recovery. Let's say 0.16t. So 1.7t in total. For Minmus> Attaching single FL-T400 & single Terrier to above gives wet mass of 4.45t and dry mass of 2.45t. Dv budget : 2.02km/s, which should be capable of landing twice or several suborbital hops on minmus, and back to kerbin. (Suicide burn) Cost: 4.45t * 380/t + 2t * 91.8/t = 1874.6 For Mun> Attaching FL-T400 + FL-T200 + Oscar-B & single Terrier to above gives wet mass of 5.8t and dry mass of 2.6t. Dv budget : 2.72km/s, which will be capable of mun landing once with suicide burn, and back to kerbin. Cost: 5.8t * 380/t + 3.2t * 91.8/t = 2498 It will cost more in real applications, but it will be hard to design and fly Panther-based SSTO as well. Also, for both cases, the TWR is obviously overpowered. It could be better & cheaper with 2 sparks. Moreover, Apollo-style landing is possible with this on Mun. Is it really capable of Mun landing? It costs significantly more dv to do so. Then I should take a look on this one. I should say that I like this one. Also it's cheaper than the figure I got with reusable rockets. But it's hard to use, I think...

I'll just leave this here, even though it doesn't fit in the rule. Here's my reusable lifter which can lift 13.42t. It weighs 71.78t with the payload, so the score would be 18.70 It didn't get into 100k X 100k orbit, but was certainly capable of reaching the orbit as it had plenty of dv on 70k X 120k orbit.

Again, looks great! what is the (fuel) cost? Wow... That series of spaceplanes for each tech looks gorgeous. How much does the fuel cost?

This looks promising! How much cost does it spend? Also can it get to several biome at once?