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@QF9E Yep, the open construction certainly isn't very aerodynamic. Also, while putting the engines higher would certainly remove rotation, this wasn't really a problem because the large reaction wheel managed to keep the shuttle relatively straight. I took a look at your solid fuel rocket shuttle, and it is genuinely insane how you managed to place the satellites in such a precise orbit without being able to throttle. I also love the massive fins on the front of the shuttle, reminiscent of the TU-144.

I managed to complete the STS-5-8 challenge by assembling a space station in 4 launches at 350km. I decided to switch from the skylon to a much simpler vertically-launched spaceplane for this challenge because launching 4 of the skylons was quite a hassle. My orbital rendez-vous skills aren't great, so getting an encounter with the station took a whole 5 burns once, but I got it eventually xD. The spaceplane also ended up being a bit difficult to pilot because, despite being relatively stable, it lost speed very quickly.

Well done, @Entropian, I can't imagine trying to use stock parts in a real solar system since they're so under-powered. This challenge is super fun, so I've been cranking out missions very quickly: here's my STS-4 (commander) rescue mission. Once again, I underestimated how much deltaV I would need to change my inclination, and despite filling my shuttle to the brim with fuel, I barely managed de-orbit after completing the mission. Also, while I tried to realistically transfer the crew between shuttles by using ladders which would connect the two ships, I forgot to add RCS thrusters, so aligning the ships in order to allow for this transfer was impossible. I ended up settling on just using the kerbal's jetpacks.

I apologize for not raising my orbit high enough for the STS-2. I got confused by the instructions, and thought that the geostationary orbit has to be at 350+km, instead of the orbit at which the probes are deployed. When it comes to safely detaching the lifting stage, I just added a load of separatrons which are usually enough to stop the boosters from colliding with the shuttle. Obviously, this method is not foolproof, and reloading is quite a common occurrence xD. Anyways, here's my STS-3(commander) mission. I tried to make the telescope look similar to the hubble space telescope, and I think I didn't do a terrible job. I also didn't realize how costly an inclination change is with a low orbit, so I barely had enough fuel left to deorbit.

Here are my submissions for the STS-1(a+b)(commander) and STS-2(a+b)(commander). I decided to use a skylon design for my shuttle because the regular shuttles I built were extremely unstable, and having the wings and engines in the middle of the craft improved the stability by a lot. Despite launching horizontally and following the ascent profile of a typical SSTO, the rapier engines are the lifting stage which is decoupled after leaving the thick atmosphere, making the craft fit the requirements of the challenge. Landing with the extra mass of the fuel tank in STS-2b was more difficult than I expected since I only practiced landing without any payload, and the wheels would break upon touchdown, so it took me well over 20 attempts to finally land in one piece. The only gameplay-affecting mod I used was mechjeb, but it was only used for orbital maneuvers.

@minerbat losing some of your footage is a certified bruh moment. It happens to everyone unfortunately, for example I didn't record my launch from Ike and only noticed after completing the mission, so I had to re-do the whole thing. On another topic, here's my Duna Lunex 2 FC which is actually smaller than my Duna Lunex 1 because I aerocaptured at Duna.

After doing the Mun Lunex 2, sending a whole base to the mun seemed like a bit of a hassle, so here's my submission for the Duna Lunex 1 FC. I had to change my ship design for this mission because, depite it looking nice, it was the most unstable plane I've ever flown.

Here's my submission for the Mun Lunex 1 and 2 (both FC) challenges.