camacju

You may want to check whether this challenge is possible first. (It is, but only with a bit of lateral thinking. A traditional single stage plane cannot make orbit without rockets due to mach number limitations). For example, no jet engine produces any thrust above mach 6. So you have to have a different way to get energy.

(:

I thought it would be original to submit a rocket SSTO submission here. After reading through the gate crashers' list, it isn't as original after all. This mission (as far as I know) is still unique however. SSTO to Eeloo and back using only rocket engines https://imgur.com/a/MoKpa7L

The problem is recovering it with only one parachute

This is definitely possible if you use aerodynamic glitches. Without those it's harder. A possible glitchless idea would be to have a fairing with a large heat sink of parts with a very high heat tolerance (Vector engines?) as well as a bunch of flag radiators or normal radiators that are shielded from shock heating.

I'd like to participate in this. Would it be acceptable for me to make a Dresteroid hauler? I think you've already messaged me on Discord, so you should have my username already.

I'm not going to do the career aspect of this challenge but I might try to do some proof of concept reusable missions

I've done a completely reusable orbital rocket on level 2 tech. And getting level 2 isn't hard with a single stage flea booster

Put them in an Imgur album

Eve reusable is marginally possible but it's by far the hardest. Even Laythe and Tylo are relatively easy. With ISRU you can do a SSTO to Eve and back so every surface should be possible

I disagree - I think the Mun helps escape burns rather than ruins them. I've used Mun assists in many missions to get somewhere for much less delta-v than it would otherwise take.

Try 600:

You can right click the control surfaces and set authority limiter to -20 degrees. This makes them work in reverse

Here's a quick mission. Single stage to orbit ... and back to KSC ... and back to orbit ... repeat a few more times.

Well I'll add something else to this thread because why not. SSTO to Eeloo and back. I didn't bother with gravity assists on the way to Eeloo because the challenge was not to use any. This makes it more of a design and planning challenge which I need practice with anyway. In VAB On runway Nuke turns on at 1500m/s and I point prograde the rest of the way to orbit In orbit with a lot of delta-v remaining. This craft could probably be good for an orbital relay race also, it could do at least six orbits by itself. Periapsis kick burns Large escape burn. This is higher than normal because I want to do a bi-elliptic transfer to Eeloo, to save fuel. Intercept burn Eeloo orbit Descent Landed Ascent In orbit kerbin transfer Aerobraking. The kerbal is shielded by the air intake Landed

What was the point of that?

Low cost Kerbin orbital mission. Probably could be improved by switching the SRB used. 1171 funds

I'll paste my parts idea from another thread: My suggestion for new/revamped parts is to do something jet engine related. There are certainly good jet engines in KSP but there may be some gaps that could use filling. -Scimitar engine: The RAPIER without the rocket mode. Many SSTO designs use only the jet engine mode of the RAPIER, trading its high top speed for its lower efficiency and using a dedicated rocket instead of the RAPIER's rocket mode. Maybe as a trade-off between the Scimitar and the RAPIER, the Scimitar could be lighter or more efficient, or cheaper. This engine would be used a lot for SSTO craft. -Pulse jet engine: A very cheap and light jet engine for the beginning of career modes. Maybe have it replace the Juno in the tech tree and bump the Juno up a level, or maybe have the pulse jet down a level. The pulse jet engine would be a lot less efficient than other more advanced jets (1000-1500 Isp?) but it would be useful for puttering around the KSC area and getting some early game science, or for building micro jet engine craft, or for doing cheap contracts. The part number could be J-31, inspired by the Ford PJ31 pulsejet. -Rolls-Royce Olympus: A very efficient jet engine that tops out at just over Mach 2. The Goliath engine would fill this role except it doesn't really look like it's a dedicated supersonic jet engine. If the Goliath does fill this role, then an actual GE90 that tops out at about Mach 1 would be nice. -Ramjet engine: An intermediate between the RAPIER and the Whiplash. The J58 wasn't a true ramjet and couldn't get as high of a speed as one. The ramjet would have intermediate efficiency and top speed. Maybe the Whiplash could be nerfed to accommodate this. -Whiplash afterburner: The J58 had an efficient afterburner, so I feel like the Whiplash engine should have a more efficient dry mode and a slightly less efficient wet mode, just like the Panther engine. -Liquid air cycle engine or air turborocket: An engine that has high specific impulse at sea level and its specific impulse gets gradually lower as the atmosphere thins. Good for very high speed atmospheric flight but less optimal in space. This would be useful for large and streamlined craft. The RAPIER would fill this role except its rocket mode doesn't quite work this way. -A more realistic precooler: The real purpose of a precooler is to slow down the incoming air that comes into a jet engine, as well as cooling it down to increase the engine's efficiency. The precooler could maybe increase the Mach limit of any engine attached to it, and/or increase its specific impulse. For balance, its internal fuel tanks could be removed, while keeping dry mass the same. -Motorjet engine: Has a much flatter thrust curve than other jet engines and thus gives higher low-Mach thrust and TWR. Would be good for STOL / carrier landings.

I'll kick this challenge off with a 1171 fund rocket. In VAB Pre-tilted Hammer booster for first stage First stage is hot decoupled and second Flea stage boosts to suborbital trajectory Jetpack finishes orbital insertion I didn't even need the extra fuel cylinder Edit: The Flea booster is too inefficient for this challenge. You could get significantly better performance, for lower cost, with a Shrimp or Mite booster instead. The Flea stage has 1347 m/s of delta-v, but swapping the 200 fund Flea out for a 150 fund Shrimp gets 2156 m/s of delta-v for 675 kg less mass, and swapping it out for a 75 fund Mite gets 1495 m/s for 1125 kg less mass. Second edit: I wasn't accounting for the mass of a fully loaded kerbal. Now the Shrimp gets 1787 m/s compared to the Flea's 1213 and the Mite's 1136.

This should go in Mission Reports, I think

This should go in Mission Reports, I think

This craft's a bit heavier than ManEatingApe's submission because I didn't use any ions and I also do a return. On runway Nuke turns on at 1500m/s and I point prograde the rest of the way to orbit In orbit with a lot of delta-v remaining. This craft could probably be good for an orbital relay race also, it could do at least six orbits by itself. Periapsis kick burns Large escape burn. This is higher than normal because I want to do a bi-elliptic transfer to Eeloo, to save fuel. Intercept burn Eeloo orbit Descent Landed Ascent In orbit kerbin transfer Aerobraking. The kerbal is shielded by the air intake Landed

The gravity assist restriction makes this a lot more difficult. Maybe I'll try this without ion engines later today. Also fuel cells aren't the best option to power ion engines since it reduces the effective isp to somewhere around 1600. RTGs or a big battery pack are better

If you want the best payload fraction possible, then you do a stage and a half spaceplane design with Rapier engines and nuclear engines. Level off at 20km until you aren't accelerating anymore with jet power, detach the Rapiers and turn on the nukes. Make sure your craft is drag optimized. If you really want to stick with a conventional rocket, then do a flat ascent profile with a low drag rocket. You should be pointing about 30 degrees upward before you hit 10 km. For consistency, use an autopilot mod to tweak the ascent profile. If I were to optimize for payload fraction, I would have a design and tweak the ascent profile until I can't improve the amount of fuel remaining, then add payload or reduce mass until the craft can barely make orbit, then repeat. After a few iterations you should have the maximum possible payload fraction for that design.

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