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After endless edit and optimization, finally I can introduce KORE's latest work. It's not most fuel-efficient Mk3 SSTO. It's design to be fly easy, comfortable, and fun. Any comment on things to be improved will be appreciated. <Download links> KORE Andromeda : https://kerbalx.com/stardog573/KORE-Andromeda AMM-137 'Longship' Body Extension Module : https://kerbalx.com/stardog573/AMM-137-Longship AMM-48 'Steward' Crew Transport Module : https://kerbalx.com/stardog573/AMM-48-Steward <Update log> 2016.11.1. Added AAM-137 'Longship' Module. 2016.11.2. Added AAM-48 'Steward' Module. 2016.11.5. Replaced angled control pod with docking Port Jr. (As I can 'control from' docking port) Added Engine Mound at Belly for VTOL capability Replaced struts with autostrut & reduced part count to 146 (These changes will be applied to next release) <Brochure of KORE Andromeda) <AAM-137 'Longship' body extension module> <AAM-48 'Steward' crew transport module>

I've been inactive for some time now, so I decided to showcase my latest creation: Jeremiah (Go see what it is!) Highlights: This SSTO should be so easy to fly that you wouldn't need a manual, but here it is anyway: - Full thrust down the runway. Pull up at 70m/s (Toggle Engine - 1Key) - Keep steady 15-17.5 Degree angle. - At 25 000m, aim at 12.5 degree angle and activate rocket-mode (Rocket Mode- 2 key) - Burn until Apoapsis is at 95 000m - From there, conduct circularization burn. If there is anything else you wish, please leave a comment. Edit: IF YOU ARE USING COMMNET, than please add an antenna of your prefrence Craft File: https://mega.nz/#!WtowAYaK!yhxKrvVN5yUiZxYMBXchMQIQQuBB3gr6zIcU36a8xeQ

This one of several posts I have about the idea of a “spaceplane sandwich.” If you haven’t, please read the General Discussion post first. This vehicle is presented as a “proof-of-concept” or a technology demonstrator only . I am not claiming it’s the best spaceship ever, or anything like that. (That said the YB101, as a single plane, is by far the wickedest spaceplane I, personally, have ever built. She climbs at a 50 degree angle and accelerates like a rocket; Mach 1 at 3km, Mach 2 at 6. I actually have to nose down into a gravity turn.) As a Spaceplane Sandwich it will lift 40 tons to LKO. Granted that, alone, is nothing to write home about, but 40 tons in any size of fairing is. And the technology is very scalable. Any two spaceplanes can do this with any size of payload. DOWNLOAD HERE Typical Accent Profile (as a Sandwich Lifter): Takeoff and climb to 7km, level off as needed to breach Mach 1, resume climb as follows; attain 500m/s at 10km, 750m/s at 15km, try for 1000m/s at 20km (if not that’s OK, do not nose down), switch to LOX between 20 and 23km, Jets will flame out around 25km, cut the burn when Ap reaches 69km. During coast phase: plot orbital insertion maneuver(s), shed aero debris. I like to do what I call a “Two-Step Orbital Insertion;” First a burn just before Ap, to push Ap forward about 45 to 90 degrees around the planet and upward to about 72-74km (the Pe will be about 50km). Then a second burn at that Ap to round the orbit. If the payload has engines, you can separate the payload before the second burn and it can reach orbit by itself, with even less debris. Action Groups: 1. Toggle Jets 2. Toggle RAPIERS 3. RAPIERS Switch mode (switch to LOX at 23 km) … (reserved for spacecraft) 0. Airbrakes and fin deployment toggle;(Deploy before reentry begins, retract for areo flight)

Hey all! I'm halfway through my Single Stage to Nearly Everywhere mission, but unfortunately I won't be able to return from Eve. As I'm on my phone, I cannot post images. Facts about the ship: ~68 tons, 72 parts, ~6450 LF, ~2100 O, 17,434 DV. I can't take off from Eve since its atmosphere is thick and slowed my down, causing me to fail at getting any significant lift. I feel that adding wings will lower my DV even more, which I need to get to Moho/Jool. Help would be appreciated!

SECTOR 7 SPACE LABORATORIES SSTO Energy Source This is probably the best craft achievements I have and the most sophisticated to operate. SSTO Energy Source has been through quite a few changes and testing. Model A is the first version, I wasn't happy with the triple wings. Model B is the second version which had 12 Vectors and 8 Rapiers, the Vectors were too much weight in the stern of the craft, these were swapped to the 12 Rapiers and 8 Vectors. Regrets are the amount of fuel it is bringing to Orbit I was hoping to get both Jumbo Mobile Tanks Full of fuel to Orbit. With 2 CRG-100, 2 CRG-50 bays and docking ports there are many options for cargo. Please excuse the video and pictures they will vary with the Vector and Rapier Engines. Photo Albums Successful Reentry & Landing Model A Model B Craft File SSTO Energy Source Parts: 452 Mass: 661.750t Height: 12.4m Width: 38.1m Length: 43.2m Action Groups: 1-Toggle Vector Engines 2-Toggle Rapier Engines 3-Toggle Rapier Mode 4-Toggle Bay Doors 5-Decouple Port Mobile Fuel Tank 6-Decouple Starboard Mobile Fuel Tank 7-Toggle Mobile Tank Photovoltic Panels 8-Toggle Mobile Tank Clamp-O-Tron Shield 9-Toggle Radiator Panels 10-Toggle Bay Lights Takeoff Procedures At takeoff engage RCS & SAS, apply full throttle Nose up at the end of the runway Steer to 25 degrees and hold until 315 m/s while lifting landing gear Note: Keep a smooth and easy liftoff, don't deviate from course until the gravity turn. Gravity Turn At 15,000m reduce throttle to half, begin GT near 40,000m killing Vector engines when 91,000m apoapsis is reached. Burn again near T- 1.30 using your throttle and steering as you see needed to complete the Orbit. Killing engines and drifting close to the apoapsis repeatedly may be necessary, I think this is called doing a split burn I am not sure, my rocketry knowledge is not too great I am still a noobie when it comes to rocketry. Reentry Most important first, transfer all remaining fuel to the most forward fuel tank behind the Cockpit and engage Radiator Panels.

Greetings! This is basically my initial first post to the K.S.P Community, however I have been playing since 2014. (0.90). I currently am running version 1.0.5 of the game due to the greater capacity of mods available at this iteration. Anyhow, I have a thing for aesthetically pleasing yet functional spacecraft capable of tremendous feats! Presently I have been working on a SSTO that can travel from Kerbin to a Station/Cruiser, refuel and undock, then head off to another planet. You might be intrigued by cruiser in the line above, I am still working out kinks in it, but essentially it is a giant flying space battleship. However, what I was aiming for was a cruiser that can ferry two SSTO's to another planet, and use them to bring ore back for refueling. Craft Name: [x33] LongSword Game Version Used: 1.0.5 Modifications Used: TweakScale, O.P.T, K.W Rocketry, adjustable landing gear. Short Description(s): A highly maneuverable, reinforced SSTO capable of withstanding maximum G-Force for prolonged periods of time. The LongSword is able to travel at a max speed of 336 m/s in atmosphere (Kerbin, Without oxidizer after burners). The LongSword has been able to orbitally insert itself and land on the following planets: Kerbin, Duna, Eve. The craft has an onboard system of mining/extracting ore and utilizing it to recreate liquid fuel + oxygen. The process takes around 130 days (can be fast forwarded) to fill up all of it's empty tanks and extra ore. It can also survive speeds of 1200 m/s in kerbin atmosphere during re-entry without being destroyed. Not to mention the fact that it can fly without ONE wing or stabilizer. (Not both at same time though). Thus this little flying triangle is capable of lifting the heaviest loads to kerbin orbit and beyond! However it does require refueling in space before voyage, (Farthest it can go with refueling in orbit = Duna). If docked to another vessel, then the odds are limitless but I only had enough time to make for Eve. Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/pCJBj Future Implementations: Robotic Arm with the Magic Smoke Industries, Infernal Robotics: Basically wanted an arm to tug satellites out of orbit and destroy them in re-entry as my longsword safely returns to KSC. The arm would also allow me to grip onto asteroids as a Kerbin Defense mission! The reason I don't like to use BD-Armory anymore is because it's not fun to roleplay anymore. (For those that blow up sattelites with guns). I mean I can go spend hours making a fleet of ships then blow them up for my own satisfaction. I think it's pointless to arm ships in orbit because despite sci fi movies, missiles in space have to retrograde (flip back and fire engines) if you're faster than a target. Meaning it looks funny if you attack Kerbin with weapons because the missile you launch forward, turns backwards and then flips over again. Cheers!

This project originally was intended to realize an SSTO modeled from the Mikoyan-Gurevitch MiG-21, and as it can be seen... The result is much more closer from the Sukhoi Su-9... Named after the Norse giant Surtr, this little guy is able to send three fanatics kerbonauts to Spaaaace : And, of course, Surtr can come back without any refueling. As an SSTO the performances are no more than average, do not expect more than a circular 150 km orbit. So the file comes as a TSTO, equipped with two droppable fuel tanks to reach an orbit of 200 km or more for a price of less than 5000 funds. This full stock craft can be found on KerbalX, and has been updated to 1.2. The traditional album of the first flight is available too. Just be cautious on final, the XC-21 really small lifting surface coupled to the delta wing will make it stall around 80 m/s while it's nearly emptied. Keep enough fuel to keep a good air speed, flare a bit and everything should run fine.

Skylon Download Link : https://kerbalx.com/Efour/Skylon Large SSTO can carry 34t payloads to LKO, inspired by Skylon, Reaction Engines LTD. Usage : Takeoff, set pitch to 10~15 degree. (FAR : 20 degree). When slowing down or on your timing, press Abort to change Engine Mode. Tinylon View many other pictures of this plane Download Link : https://kerbalx.com/Efour/Tinylon Small SSTO can be changed payload type easily. inspired by Skylon, Reaction Engines LTD. Usage : Almost same with the Skylon. Changing payload is easy because main wings and engines are attatched at rear rocket fuel tank. Detaching it makes other every vital flying parts be detached, and will be attatched to new payload easily.

To complete this challenge: Launch a probe core from KSP to Kerbol escape trajectory without dropping any parts after starting to move. (Leaving launch clamps or any other part attached to them is deliberately acceptable.) To complete this challenge with a score > 0: have an RTG and an antenna on the probe core. Your score is 1000 * the total mass of all science parts including antennas (that is, any part by default in the science section). You may place fairings in the ship editor, but if you do you may not jettison them until you already have a Kerbol escape trajectory. Part clipping is allowed for structural parts, but functional parts may not be clipped into each other. Exception: the size 2 reaction wheel is hollow and may have smaller parts clipped inside it. Optional allowed mods: KER RemoteTech MechJeb MechJeb for all BetterTimewarp Any other installed mods that do not alter gameplay as far as this challenge is concerned. You may use HyperEdit to place your comm network but this mission must be flown without it. No kraken drives or other physics abuses, no cheats. My attempt failed, but got into an orbit between Dres and Jool, so I'm convinced it's possible with the right gravity assist.

So long time Lurker here finally pushed to actually posting because I actually managed to make something I'm slightly proud of, a fairly simple SSTO space plane that I can use for tourists that are no longer satisfied with just a jaunt to LKO, oh well. Saying that I did get to use it for one tourist contract. It uses one Panther (mostly in afterburner mode) and two terriers to achieve orbit of approxiamtely 70-80km, it can also be a little prone to overheating on re-entry,and thus requiring a little finese, I am otherwise in love with this, even though it will likely see very little use in my Career save (1.2pre) and at some point I will find out how to post images like everyone else in the forum

Here's a challenging challenge I kinda just made up outta the blue: Perform a trip to Eeloo in a single vessel of your choice carrying equipment to deploy a permanent, self-supplied colony (Kerbal housing, rover(s), drill(s), sensors, all that stuff). Note that I have not succeeded in this myself, but it should be possible. -Easy-ish version: Deploy the colony on Eeloo. -Hard-ish version: Deploy a self-sustaining colony on Eeloo, and deploy a satellite into stable Duna orbit on the way. -Hard hard version: Drop a self-sustaining colony on Eeloo, deploy a satellite into orbit around Duna on the way, and return the vessel to Kerbin or a space station orbiting it. -Turboninja-extraordinary-superwow version: Drop a self-sustaining colony on Eeloo, deploy a satellite into orbit around Duna and one around Jool (Or one of its moons, you choose), drive your vessel on the surface to your desired dropoff destination for the colony, deploy the colony, and last but not least retrieve the satellites placed on the way out and return to Kerbin. All in one vessel. Good luck.

Hello there intelligent Engineers! Today, I've got a challenge for you! A very tough one. So I've seen people building SSTO's in Ksp RSS but none of them was reuseable. Now I'm inviting you to join this challange and be maybe the first ones to ever crate a SSTO on RSS in KSP or a fully reuseable spacecraft. The rules are: Full reuseability no debris has to achieve orbit has to carry atleast 5t to LEO Realistic mods! (That means no warp drive ) RSS FAR The winners spacecraft will get a youtube review. I cant await to see your spacecraft

Finally, an amazing tiny ship to carry in the amazing large ship, both from Starfleet. This Federation Runabout seats 3, fits perfectly and is even an SSTO. Its body is from the USI Malemute Rover. It doesn't have passive antigravity due to its low tier engine (in the GN Drive mod) but simulates it by mashing RCS which is very necessary to control vertical speed while sub-orbital. The only thing to really worry about is surface gravity as its TWR is just fine on Kerbin but main thrust alone is not enough to get into Kerbin orbit. The USS Enterprise D craft has been updated with a perfectly placed docking port to receive this craft, but that port is not in any action groups. My brief testing hasn't made it necessary but it's easy enough to reach and right-click on when it presents the undock option. Action Groups 1) Toggle GN Drive and Ion Engines. Better to not use the Spacebar to start. GN Drives may not show up in staging. 5) Refuel Runabout. It doesn't have passive regeneration and will eventually go dry. The craft will need downtimes as all Ec will be consumed for the process. 0) Undock Node. (Test this before going live.) The Clamp-O-Tron, on the underside, is inset to reduce the concern for it dragging across a surface during translation while landed. This makes it very hard to reach while docked to another ship, moreso the wall or floor of a cargo bay. If this doesn't work for you, add Decouple Node to the action group. Download USI version. Non-USI version.

Hi, i have this SSTO that can go anywhere near Kerbin, but when i try to return and land, its almost impossible to control and land safely. As you can see, both CoM and Dry CoM are ahead of CoL, but upon reentry at some time the plane losses stability. Do you find what is wrong with the design? How could i solve it? Thanks And one more thing: The cockpit is always burning or almost at reentry, even having only heat setup at 70%

Level: Intermediate If you've pored over Basic Aircraft Design, Explained Simply, With Pictures, and manage to get something into orbit and back, at least some of the time, but it doesn't quite work like you want to, and you're not sure why, this troubleshooting checklist is for you. It's compiled from my own experience as well as wisdom gathered from various places in this forum. This checklist has been written for Stock 1.2-pre, but is mostly applicable to 1.1.x and Ferram Aerospace Research as well. Atmosphere Autopilot eliminates much of the need for aerodynamic tweaking, but stable planes do handle better with it enabled as well. Take-off Craft won't go straight on the runway Unsuitable landing gear configuration -> Make sure landing gear is straight on both axes -> Adjust position of landing gear - wider or narrower, nose gear forward or back Landing gear is too light -> Tune up springs and damping on main gear -> Use heavier main landing gear Craft won't pitch up for take-off Nose landing gear is lower than tail landing gear -> Adjust relative landing gear height Tail landing gear is too far behind centre of mass -> Move tail landing gear forward Wing doesn't generate enough lift -> Add a bigger wing -> Adjust wing's angle of incidence (tilt wing so the leading edge is higher) -> Add canards to the nose of the plane TIP: start extended and key them to the gear action group Craft wants to do a backflip after it unsticks from the runway Problem 1 or 2 above: you have to apply a big control movement to unstick the nose, and when it does you back-flip -> Correct the problem Pitch control surfaces aren't far enough back: can happen with delta wing or canard design -> Add a tail -> Move the tail further back -> Add bigger control surfaces to the tail -> Move canard back -> Reduce control authority on canard -> Reduce angle of incidence of canard Flight Craft is too roll-happy Lack of inherent stability -> Adjust wing camber so the wingtips are above the wing root -> Adjust wing placement so it's higher up the fuselage Roll control surfaces have too much movement -> Disable roll control for the inner ailerons and tail, enable it only for the wingtip ailerons, and adjust control authority on them Craft won't stay pointed where I'm pointing it Lack of inherent stability -> Add a bigger tail, another tail surface, or move tail further back Craft wants to nose down a lot when rolling Centre of mass too far forward of centre of lift -> Adjust centre of mass and centre of lift Lack of inherent stability -> Add a double tail, cambered outwards Craft won't accelerate like I expect it to Angle of attack is too high (check on the navball) -> Add more wing, or adjust wing pitch so the craft stays pointed at prograde once it's going reasonably fast Construction problem: one or more parts didn't "snap" properly and register as surface attached, which generates obscene amounts of drag -> Disassemble and reassemble the craft, making sure all parts "snap" together rather than having to be adjusted by hand Craft is too heavy -> Reduce fuel load or payload -> Redesign for better aerodynamics and reduce the number of engines, if you're using much more than roughly: A typical Mk 1 spaceplane will need two Whiplashes and an Aerospike A typical Mk 2 will use two Whiplashes and 1-2 Aerospikes An entry-level Mk 3 (built around the shorter cargo bays) will use four Whiplashes and the equivalent of 3-4 Aerospikes (one Skipper, one Vector etc.) A heavy Mk 3 (built around the long cargo bay) will will use 6-7 Whiplashes and a Vector or equivalent TIP: Ramjets will get into a positive feedback loop once past 400 m/s or so. Consider firing your rocket engine for a few seconds to boost your craft past that point for the in-atmosphere acceleration to orbit Deorbit and re-entry Craft burns up on re-entry Your re-entry corridor is too steep -> Use a shallower corridor. Pe between 55 and 60k for an Ap up to 250k should be safe for most designs. You're not producing enough drag -> Stay pointed up for longer (45 degree AoA or more, until you're at 1500 m/s or below) -> Add more wing You're nosing down too soon -> Move the CoM back by pumping fuel from the fore to the aft tanks. With SAS engaged, watch the Pitch control. Try to keep it at around halfway up until down to 40 k altitude or so. Craft flips out of control on re-entry CoM has moved back as fuel and payload have changed, and is now behind the CoL -> Pump fuel from aft tanks to fore tanks. With SAS engaged, watch the Pitch control. If it's below the 0 line, you're in trouble. Hypersonic aerodynamics are different than regular ones: components in the forward part are producing too much drag -> Redesign, moving the draggy parts further back, but still keeping the CoL behind the CoM Re-entry ends up halfway across the globe from KSC -> Experiment to find the right corridor. Putting Pe between 55 and 60k right above KSC (v 1.2) will get you in the ballpark for most designs. Tweak Pe altitude for your particular design. Landing It's more like crashing really You're going too fast -> Glide down at about -10 degrees pitch until you're within a couple of hundred metres. Then pitch to 0 to +5 degrees (between -5 and -10 m/s vertical speed) until you're very close to the ground. Then pitch up so you're between 0 and -5 m/s vertical speed, ideally with your nose close to 0 degrees. You will float down to the runway. Then hit the brakes. You're not producing enough lift -> If your plane is stalling at 100 m/s or so, consider adding more wing It's more like a trampoline really (big plane running empty, still flying at around 30 m/s?) Your landing gear springs/dampers are too hard -> Tune down the springs and dampers, or use lighter landing gear Your nose gear is too high -> Lower nose gear – note that this will make take-offs harder! You're producing too much lift -> Add drogue chutes and pop them the instant before touching down I get a tail strike and blow up my engines Practice. Ideally your wings are straight and level with your speed at 50 m/s or lower when you touch down. This should avoid both bouncing and tail strikes. Use taller landing gear Add a tailgear as far aft as feasible and high enough up that it'll catch the tail if it drops down too far Redesign so the CoM is further forward so you can move the main gear further back I miss the runway all the time Well, it is hard! -> Don't worry about it, land in the nice flat area next to it instead, or if you miss that, ditch in the sea -> Practice!

Hi! I have designed a run-of-the-mill SSTO. Nothing special, gets Kerbals to orbit. Unfortunately, I noticed an issue: one of the fuel tanks does not provide lift, and only on one side!! http://imgur.com/a/M5wRF Craft file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1414175/ksp/jinxed-jet/Jinxed.craft I just don't get what is wrong with it. Can anybody help me out here? ps.: This happens both in 1.1.3 and in 1.2.

Hello. This is my first challenge here. Challenge: - 150 tun ssto - 4 Rockomax Jumbo-64 Fuel Tank - 2 FL-R1 RCS Fuel Tank - Plane that will carry it to orbit. Allowed mods: - Mark IV Spaceplane System - B9 Aerospace - Quiztech Aero Pack - Adjustable Landing Gears - Mechjeb Post pics here P.S.: BTW I have done it my self, but in old version. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4xXHWEm81OlM0hvUjQ3WVkzR2c https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4xXHWEm81OlRzZpejNwYUxHUlk (I know awesome quality)

Hi, being playing since... well i dont remember, probably 4 years or so. I've done many many of the things in KSP that can be done, but SSTO spaceplanes are ALWAYS a headache for me. For each time i try to build a new one (each new version of KSP, each time i retake the game since a long time) i need too many time to build a very crude SSTO (just LKO), and i find it very difficult to do it. And SSTO to Minmus for me is still undone, thats what i was aiming for this time, but can barely get a SSTO, So i would really appreciate ALL the advices no matter if they are not very important, for there is not any real SSTO guide for 1.1.3 as far ive seen. Thanks

Forgive me sires if i still play in 1.1.3 but i want to reach Sarnus, Neidon and its friends (OPM) and 1.2 has not many mods updated, so im asking for 1.1.3. I have this "SSTO wannabe: But i got surprised when i noticed the Jets are taking part of it fuel from the center tanks. How can that be? How can i solve that without struts. Anyway, any advices of how to improve the craft?

Always in Kerbal space program we had created Rockets,Space shuttles and more. But, What about SSTO's? :Space planes and Single stage to orbit rockets? And the most important question, What range of you SSTO has get on? That is a great question!

This is nothing especially sophisticated, but I just finished designing an SSTO with a claw on the front and lots of dV for cheaply deorbiting space junk, and sometimes rescuing stranded kerbals in the process. I took a few pictures during its first mission. (I named it "Seraph" because the wings remind me of a snow angel.) It's 100% stock, 71 parts, 17.1m long, 55.685 tons wet / 20.655 dry, and gets to 80km orbit with around 3800m/s dV remaining (thanks to a nuke engine). The oxidizer runs out near the end of the circularization burn, which means switching to the nuke and having uneven thrust throughout the burn, but I'd rather have that happen during circularization than other maneuvers later. Balancing was a little tricky since the center of mass moves backward a little as fuel drains. I rearranged the fuel tanks to put a little more of the LF+OX tankage toward the back, to keep the CoM a little closer to the front when oxidizer is empty but fuel is not, and settled for having the CoL a little farther back than I'd like during takeoff in order to prevent the plane from flipping backward during reentry. While experimenting with different wing placements, I also learned how to use flaps properly (I think). Anyway, here's an Imgur album (with image descriptions) and craft file. Comments and criticism are welcome. Flight profile is in the ship description, but it's basically just 10 degrees the whole time. (I'm usually not very good at landing on the runway. I was excited that I actually managed to do it this time — and then I bounced and almost went off the end. )

Mountain Thrust Aerospace presents: THE SCAVENGER'S DAUGHTER A single-crewed micro-SSTO composed of only 17 parts, the Scavenger's Daughter is: Cheap! Cute! Easy and fun to fly! Composed of only 17 parts! Cute! Capable! Composed of only 17 parts! Did I mention cute? What about the part count? Did I tell you about the part count?! In the image below, you can see the Daughter in a 70km x 70km orbit and still has over a kilometer per second of delta-V in the tank. The craft's excellent range and uncrewed flight capability make her perfect for LKO rescue missions... and not a great deal else to be honest. But look how cute she is! Nnnggaaawwwwww! Vital statistics are given in the groovy schematic: Flight Manual: Ach, it's not that hard, to be honest. I'm sure you guys can manage. Just try not to explode on the way up. Action Groups: 1. Toggle RAPIER 2. Switch RAPIER mode/toggle intake CRAFT FILE: kerbalX: https://kerbalx.com/cdrfuzz/THE-SCAVENGERS-DAUGHTER direct download

The Dual Spaceplane Heavy Lifter Part 1: How to make a Spaceplane Sandwich. This one of several posts I have about the idea of a “Spaceplane Sandwich.” If you haven’t, please read the General Discussion thread first. Good candidates for a Spaceplane Sandwich are any SSTO planes with extra thrust, extra lift, extra fuel and some space on the top of the fuselage for the payload. (i.e. no vertical stabilizers in the way) It does not need any cargo capacity of its own. One simple way to make one is to take your largest cargo plane, remove the cargo capacity (payload bays, passenger cabins, fuel tanks etc), move the vertical stabilizers out to sides (somehow) and add really heavy landing gear (it will be carrying more than twice its weight). Once you have selected your plane, you’re ready to make the sandwich. (I’m using the YB101 that I built for the DSHL project, you can get it here.) By default the SPH wants to put the top plane on upside down or sideways. So you have to go through these steps to build a top plane to go with your existing bottom plane (takes about 3 minutes) . 1. First make whatever part that contains the CoM the Root Part. In this case it’s a Mk2 long LFO tank. (from this point on I’ll be calling that the “bottom CoM part”) 2. Add a Decoupler over the CoM. 3. Add a Demo payload to the Decoupler at the CoM, in this case we’ll use a 40 ton fuel tank. (it’s good to use a fuel tank as a demo payload to figure out the maximum lifting capacity of the sandwich, later you’ll replace it with a real payload.) 4. Add another Decoupler over the new CoM. 5. Now go to the parts sidebar, and get fresh copy of whatever your bottom CoM part is. In this case it’s a Mk2 long LFO tank. It will usually attach sideways. That’s fine. 6. Use the Rotate and Offset tools to rotate the part right side up and center it over the decoupler. Now look from the side and move it forward or rearward so it is directly above the bottom CoM part. 7. Use Alt-Click to take a copy of the forward fuselage from the bottom CoM part and attach it to the top CoM Part. 8. Repeat with rear fuselage. 9. And the wings. (Note: if the wings of your plane are not attached directly to the CoM part, you may want to rethink that.) 10. Add any other parts from the bottom CoM part that are needed (RCS, chutes, etc) 11. Finish out the demo payload with nosecones, tailcones and fins. (For more on payloads see: The Dual Spaceplane Heavy Lifter Part 2: Payloads: Putting the meat on a Spaceplane Sandwich.) 12. Retract the gear on the top plane. 13. Moar Struts (actually just these struts) Running struts from around the landing gear of the top plane to above the landing gear of the bottom plane seems to distribute the weight nicely. If you run struts from top to bottom, they will re-attach when you change payloads.(Struts are usually not necessary on the payload if it properly packed.) 14. And now you have a Spaceplane Sandwich. Don’t be surprised if the first time you put it on the runway if falls backwards, you may need to go back to the SPH and use the offset tool to move the payload (and/or the top plane) forwards or rearward. I don’t know anything about the physics of hypersonic biplanes, but I do tend to end up with the top plane a little forward of the bottom plane. The result is sometimes a little silly looking. (This is KSP.) It looks basically like two planes carrying a bomb bigger than either of them. (To me it looks like a last-ditch attempt to win a war in a cartoon.) But it looks a lot less silly when you release the payload in orbit. The Dual Spaceplane Heavy Lifter Part 2: Payloads: Putting the meat on a Spaceplane Sandwich. This part took me a while. For the longest time I could get fuel tanks to orbit on a Sandwich Lifter, but I couldn’t reliably do it with spacecraft of similar mass. The problem was drag. If your payload has too much drag you will burn too much fuel on the way up and not make orbit, and even if you have a reasonable amount drag but it’s in the wrong place the vehicle still will become highly unstable at transonic speeds and may just tumble out of control. The problem was that I was designing the fairing the way I did for a rocket; primarily minimizing mass (which means hugging the payload shape tightly) and secondarily minimizing drag (which meant adding some slanty areas). That was wrong. First, l learned what “Center of Drag” was. It goes along with CoM, CoL, and CoT but is not shown in the VAB/SPH. If the CoD is forward of the CoM, the vehicle will tend to flip around. If you have ever put too wide a fairing on the nose of a rocket, you know all about that. Think of a dart; heavy, pointy nose in front, thick body a little bit forward of the middle, and light draggy fins in back. You do also want to minimize mass, of course, but that’s secondary. These parameters lead to one simple shape; the fairing forms a gentle slope from the nosecone out to widest point (the CoM should be just at or slightly forward of the widest point) and then another, slightly longer, gentle slope from the widest point to the tail, and fins on the tail. Putting the fins at 45 degree angles keeps them out of the jet wash. You’ll recognize this shape. It’s the shape of a bomb. Form follows function; bombs are designed to be carried on high-speed aircraft. It just works. Making the payload consistently bomb-shaped is what makes the entire Spaceplane Sandwich concept work. There are a few other considerations, order of assembly, getting the girder segments to poke through the fairing, etc. So I’ve made the following step by step. Interestingly, as I went through the process to get the screenshots for this tutorial, I made a mistake. The payload doesn’t get to orbit at first. I had to go back and fix it. I thought about redoing the screenshots over. But I realized it made for an excellent “teachable moment.” Can you catch where I go wrong? This is the Icarus, a hybrid interplanetary tug/lander I just loaded with a bunch of fuel. Because the ship started in the VAB we’ll start there. We’ll move to the SPH shortly. 1. First we find the CoM and mount decouplers on what will be the top and bottom of the payload. 2. We add a spacer, here I’m using an empty fuel tank, on the will become the rear of the payload. 3. Mount a fairing to that, and build the fairing in the bomb shape we discussed earlier. Note: “clamshell” fairings seem to get all explodey with girders sticking through them; “potato chip” fairings appear to be safer. 4. (optional) Temporarily remove the spacer. The fairing will move with it and stay intact. (This is just to see better, I can never work with all those fairing its flying around.) 5. Attach long girder segments to the decouplers. 6. Run struts from the girder segments to the payload, supporting it evenly. 7. Reattach the spacer/fairing assembly. Hopefully the girder segments will be long enough to poke through the fairing, if not add more. 8. Attach a tailcone and fins. 9. Use the reroot tool to make the bottom (ventral) girder segment the root part. 10. Save the ship. 11. Go to the SPH, load your Spaceplane Sandwich. 12. Remove the top plane WITH its decoupler. (It may flip sideways, that’s fine.) 13. Remove and delete the demo payload. 14. Click the Open button and Merge with the craft file you saved in step 10. 15. Mount the payload on the bottom plane. Note:I have had a problem w/ the Long Girder Segment not wanting to attach to the decoupler properly. The green ball attachment point appears on the wrong end of the girder (the end already attached to the payload) ,then it wants to attach there, with the girder segment clipping through the plane. If that happens, putting a small girder segment on the decoupler first puts a green ball there. Then the payload will attach correctly. 16. Mount the top plane on the payload. (Struts should reconnect by themselves.) Note: At this point you have just combined three very complex vehicles, usually with conflicting forms of symmetry. Depending on partcount, computer memory and/or whatever KSP bugs exist, we appear to be pushing the limits of the SPH at this point. This is when symmetry goes wonky, struts and fuel lines may get disconnected. Adding more symmetrical parts is iffy at best. None of this, however, has anything to do with this tutorial. All I can tell you is to watch out for that kind of thing. I’ll say again: Don’t be surprised if the first time you put it on the runway if falls backwards, you may need to go back to the SPH and use the offset tool to move the payload (by the bottom plane’s decoupler) and/or the top plane, forwards or rearward. I don’t know anything about the physics of hypersonic biplanes, but I do tend to end up with the top plane a little forward of the bottom plane. Now, as I said in the beginning; that did not get into orbit. Can you tell me why not? The shape. The back half of the fairing isn’t long enough. Back to the SPH where I replaced that short spacer with two size one hollow tubes. Then I rebuilt the fairing, this time making it a mid-fairing and adding an actual nosecone. That one went into orbit nicely. One last note: If your payload is atmospherically streamlined, you might not need a fairing, (i.e. a sleek Mk2 ship or a fuel tank that just requires nose and tail cones). But the fins do not appear to be optional. Just a girder with four fins will do. But you will need some fins back there. The Dual Spaceplane Heavy Lifter Part 3: Orbit: Properly serving a Spaceplane Sandwich. (OK, enough sandwich puns I've been told they're metaphors) This one of several posts I have about the idea of a “spaceplane sandwich.” This article is about packing the payload in a fairing. If you haven’t, please read the General Discussion post first. So you’ve got your Spaceplane Sandwich and you’re about to make orbit. There are still a couple of things to consider. 1. What about Debris? Once you clear 55km, and before the orbital insertion burn, you can jettison nosecones, tailcones, and the fairing. Note: “clamshell” fairings seem to get all explodey with girders sticking through them; “potato chip” fairings appear to be safer. But that still leaves the girders and decouplers holding the planes to the payload. Do you want the planes to carry the payload (and that debris) all the way to orbit? I like to aim for an Ap of 72 km and a Pe of about 52 km. Just a little short of orbit. Then I separate everything. The payload and one plane make a short burn at Ap to orbit. Then I fly the other plane home, and all the debris deorbits with it. 2. Are you really making orbit? Normally when you design a spaceplane or rocket, once you make orbit, you can usually make orbit again, the same way, every time. That’s not true with a Spaceplane Sandwich. Every time you fly it, you have a different payload; different weight, different shape and size of fairing. In short it’s a different plane every time. And if you’re like me, you’re probably pushing max payload capacity (and drag). So you might not quite be making orbit every time. Fortunately, the Spaceplane Sandwich concept gives you a lot of options here. Does the payload have engines? After jettisoning the fairing it might help carry everything up. “Borrowing” fuel from the payload is another option. Or you could go back to the SPH and add fuel to the payload for the purpose of transferring it to the planes on the way up. (Did you use empty fuel tanks as a fairing spacer?) My point here is that even though the planes should be able to carry the payload (fairing, girders, and all) to orbit. It doesn’t have to. And debris-wise you probably don’t want to. So, that’s putting Spaceplane Sandwich in Orbit, Comments about the Spaceplane Sandwich concept in general, belong in the General Discussion thread.

Here's another SSTO I made after taking a little hiatus from KSP. Right now, the best I can do for a name is "Star Wave," which I'm not extremely happy with. I'd love some suggestions for a better ship name, though. Winner get's a...um...we'll I'll buy you a beer if you're in town. How about that ? This ship is capable of obtaining a 160,000 K plus orbit with full station docking capability. It's a bit tricky to land if you're not willing to balance your fuel, but flies just fine for an SSTO. Thanks for the look! As alway, appreciate any comments you might have.

For quite a while i've been trying to create 3 kerbals on a SSTO spaceship that is able to refill itself by use of Ore / karbonite With a goal of visiting multiple planets / muns beyond minimus and mun. I've been very close of making one so i believe someone eventually will make it. Mods you might use near future tech (electrics/solar/nuclear/ ... FAR (if not mention that it wasnt used), because its more realistic to use it. TweakScale (if you need it) USG robotics (if you need it) Karbonite (if you need it) Asteroid recycling tech (if you need it) Mods for different cockpits are ok to use if you want so. no objections to other mods if they dont contain extreme engine hacks or extreme lifting wings Space plane should contain (besides the other stuff). Mining (ore or karbonite ) to fuel converters Drills Tools to scan so you know where to mine (or else you endup lost in space). Electrics might be based on Nuclear / Solar No tanking by other planes or bases allowed, its SSTO Most likely flight path is, to aim for mun or minimus first, start drill and refill fuel operation there. From there visit some other planets or their moons to mine, then fly safely back on kerbin What makes it hard is the first part, takeoff from kerbin and still be able to reach mun/minimus and to land there As you will need a larger SSTO design to house the mining parts, while larger planes have more mass and make it hard to reachout to other planets and land safely. So this is quite a balancing act. You probably start of with air breathing engines and fly to Minimus using your inter-planar nuclear / electric engine. So show your ships builds or youtube if your able to do it.