Trident SSTO Lifter -- deliver 8 tons to 250 km orbits and soft-land back at KSC!

[LitaAlto]

Download the stock .craft file from KerbalX!

Update: SpaceY Edition also available from KerbalX! Requires SpaceY Heavy-Lifter Parts.

The Trident SSTO Lifter is designed with space construction in mind, and is rated for lifting 8-ton payloads to a 250-kilometer orbit, before soft-landing back at the KSC for rapid reuse.

There is a stock version and a SpaceY version that has lighter, longer, stronger landing legs better suited for stage recovery. The SpaceY version is about six tons lighter, which means more payload capacity and a more generous delta-V budget for soft-landing.

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This is the stock variant....

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...And the SpaceY variant....

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Edited March 4, 2015 by LitaAlto

[Prof. Endwalker]

Looks great! I like the design with the side-mounted boosters so that there was the most efficiency possible! 8 tons isn't that much though, and with the look of it, it could easily carry more!

[LitaAlto]

Looks great! I like the design with the side-mounted boosters so that there was the most efficiency possible! 8 tons isn't that much though, and with the look of it, it could easily carry more!

Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback!

In testing the stock version can get to a 250 km orbit with the 8.25 ton payload, and have about 500 m/s in delta-V left for deorbiting and soft-landing. Under 500 m/s, you increase the risk of not being able to soft-land adequately.

The SpaceY version, as I mentioned, is about six tons lighter, so you can definitely carry about 14 tons to the 250 km orbit and still have at least 500 m/s left.

Also, there is every chance I was not using the most efficient launches possible. I was tweaking MechJeb's ascent curve and it might be too low. It's something I can look into anyhow.

And, this is with stock aerodynamics as it stands in 0.90.0--obviously, with FAR, NEAR, or KSP 1.0+, the delta-V will probably be higher due to better drag/lift calculations.