The K Prize - 100% reusable spaceplane to orbit and back

[Tada]

Ok, after year of playing KSP, visiting almost all bodies, doing great missions, hauling 350 ton payloads to Jool I finally built a SSTO!

LittleBird SSTO

Tech data:

Weight: 8.49t

Parts: 37

Fuel: 150 units of jet fuel, 225 rocket fuel, 265 units of oxidizer, 80 units of monopropelant

Electricity: 1 thermo-nuclear generator, 50 units of electricity

Communication: Commutron 16 antena

Propulsion: 1x TurboJet, 2x LV-909 Liquid Fuel Engine

It is completely capable of reaching 1600m/s2 at height around 24.500m, then switching to liquid fuel and coasting to orbit. I´ve succesfully rendezvoused with space station in 100km orbit.

Download

[Mesklin]

Here is Arrowhead SSTO with only 2 intakes, no atomic engines, with docking possibilities, and it craft can went to the Kerbin orbit and back twice without refueling

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Edited November 15, 2013 by Mesklin

[boolybooly]

LittleBird SSTO

It is completely capable of reaching 1600m/s2 at height around 24.500m, then switching to liquid fuel and coasting to orbit. I´ve succesfully rendezvoused with space station in 100km orbit.

Well played Tada, quite an achievement for a small craft considering the minimum size of the rocket only Mk1 capsule orbiter. So did you land it safely? If so you can take your place on the guest list aka roll of honour. If you dock and then land on the runway this would win the highly regarded Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1st class !

Mesklin thanks for your mission report on the double lift off - orbit - landing of Arrowhead SSTO. Congratulations on completing the K-Prize challenge once more and winning an Advanced Pilot Precision Award twice over in one mission with a completely new design which interestingly omits a vertical stabilizer without adverse effects, which is definitely food for thought.

[Fox62]

One of my current favorite ships. The Gypsy Danger Mk4

Variable-sweep wings.

-snipped for reading simplicity-

Download link please.

[Cinocal]

Download link please.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4mqbucylgcez7rg/GypsyDanger%20Mk4%2B%2B.craft

[boolybooly]

Thanks for your Delta G2 mission report Cinocal, duly logged as a K-Prize winner, taking it as read that the orbit was roundish! (I guess about 74+km PE.) So congratulations on winning your K-Prize Advanced Pilot Precision Award and making the guest list.

[Cinocal]

Thanks for your Delta G2 mission report Cinocal, duly logged as a K-Prize winner, taking it as read that the orbit was roundish! (I guess about 74+km PE.) So congratulations on winning your K-Prize Advanced Pilot Precision Award and making the guest list.

Thanks.

From mission report

This is the beginning of my deorbit burn from a circular orbit of aprox 98km. All my designs are tested to 100km orbit as a standard design benchmark.

[Cupcake...]

Hello all. For show and tell today I've bought along this:

Thanks again for such a great challenge.

Cupcake...

[g00bd0g]

Here is a series of little SSTO planes I call "Spunky". I have about 8 different versions. The album has my latest "science" version with all scientific instruments, designed to explore any atmospheric body in the system (after getting a ride there). It is imaginatively called Spunky Science Mid.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/55179-I-present-to-you-Spunky-the-little-SSTO-Plane-that-could

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Edited November 17, 2013 by g00bd0g

[WafflesToo]

So disappointed with my performance on this one... sigh...

All the same, here's the Pelican-K (cargo variant) that I used to put a series of satellites into orbit in my newest play-through of the game.

Edited November 19, 2013 by WafflesToo
fix a broken link

[boolybooly]

Thanks Cupcake for the vision of Jeb doing a dance to Chris Rea on Ike... cool!

WafflesToo thanks for your nicely put together demonstration of how to deliver a geostationary satellite network into orbit with your Pelican-K shuttle, I am assuming the cargo bay part is not a fuel carrier or lift generator

g00bd0g, thanks for your Imgur album showing your small craft. Not sure how to link this as I can't tell if you completed a K-Prize mission or just did some suborbital hops. It can be a gatecrasher if you want or if you can state a K-Prize mission was done in accordance with the rules then your word is good enough and it can be linked as a prize winner, or we can wait for a full mission report, as you wish.

[WafflesToo]

...

WafflesToo thanks for your nicely put together demonstration of how to deliver a geostationary satellite network into orbit with your Pelican-K shuttle, I am assuming the cargo bay part is not a fuel carrier or lift generator

...

That would be correct SUH!

Actually, glad you mentioned it because I'd completely forgotten about that . But no, the Mk.III cargo unit does not carry fuel (the Mk.III crewtank on the other hand... Guess that'll make the Pelican-A a gatecrasher when her day comes )

[Tarmenius]

So I finally decided to try out intake spamming in order to make an SSTO with capabilities beyond LKO. I used the standard two-jet-one-rocket configuration with 10 Ram Intakes and two Radial Intakes per engine.

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I arrived on Minmus' surface with 50% of my fuel remaining, so I suspect the craft is capable of getting to orbit around Duna or Eve, though I doubt a return from either of them would be possible.

All in all, I have to say that using so many intakes makes achieving orbit trivial and feel like less of an accomplishment, but it's pretty cool to take a single craft from the runway to somewhere other than an orbital station.

Thanks for continuing to run this challenge, boolybooly! It's always fun.

[boolybooly]

You are welcome Tarmenius glad you are enjoying it, there would be no K Prize were it not for the many inspired and inspiring contributions of those who fly the challenge. So thanks to you for your mission report on the flight of La Folie, nuclear powered high altitude aero-cruise capable spaceplane, which has earned the coveted Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1st Class for docking in orbit as well as landing on the runway, along with the highly regarded Astrokerbal Distinction for landing on Minmus.

[g00bd0g]

Jeb got bored and decided to go for a quick trip to the moon and back. Even managed a nice landing at KSC. No dev console, funny parts clipping, or intake spamming. With sloppy piloting there was several hundred dv remaining and plenty of fuel for atmospheric maneuvers.

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[winginson]

This is one of my Valkyrja class, my first properly successful SSTO series. Turns out before that whilst I had enough engine and intakes, I didn't have enough wing. So using a blended wing body finally meant orbit was acheived with enough dv left over to dock with Asgard station, although in this flight I didn't as I couldn't dock and return to kerbin without refueling. This particular flight shows the Valkyrja-C SSTO which is the best in the series so far, almost impossible to flip, no problems on re-entry whether empty or full, and can glide down to 35m/s and land.

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I'm stuck now though, I simply can't seem to get more range out of these things. Going bigger just means a bigger SSTO with the same lousy range. I think I'll go back to landing Jeb on Minmus from a command seat on escape so he can go play on his unicycle, and wait for a flash of inspiration or some kind soul offering advice.

[Ravenchant]

First off, apologies for the picture-heaviness of this post, Photobucket can't do good slideshows.

This is my entry (and also first functional SSTO), the Sokol. According to engineer information, it weighs 15,849 kilos. In all fairness, it should be designated Mk. IV, because the first three designs couldn't even dream of getting to orbit. Turned out I was putting far too much jet fuel onto the thing, so this design only has one tank of it, while packing 3 FL-T400s. All in all, it's more of a rocket plane than a jet plane.

I tried not to airhog, but with a 2:1 intake ratio it still looks ugly in profile. I shudder to think what FAR would have to say in that regard

Edit: fully stock of course, except for Kerbal Engineer.

Throttling up...

I was too busy handling the plane during ascent to press F1, but this one was taken while coasting to apoapsis.

Orbit!

Had a bit of fuel left over, so Jeb did a rendezvous with a station in 90 km orbit

Undocked and deorbited using the last fumes(?) of oxidizer...getting hot in there, huh?

On final approach

Don't fail me now, SAS!

Back at the hangar, our brave pilot does some posing

Here's the .craft file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/99520841/Sokol%20Mk%20I.craft

So yeah... it's no beauty, needs the drop at the end of runway to get airborne and has no payload lifting capabilities, but it does what it's supposed to: be a reusable SSTO. I can haz back stage pass?

Edited November 25, 2013 by Ravenchant

[zekes]

Not a SSTO but I just want to show you guys this shuttle...

[Spartwo]

There is a thread for shuttles...on the other hand:

Oh crap better balance it out.

(it breaks rule 2 so:()

[GraviTykillz]

My Entry to the K-prize theBat

all stock except for Kerbal Paint.

take off

switching to rockets

Orbit

Home

Final time and Flight results

Thanks for a great challange!!

I had to coast home and just made it to the runway with a little fuel left.

[xtremespino]

This is my first entry for the K-Prize

The craft is called the NightOwl, and can easily do a mission to a space station, but can probably reach Minmus, however I'm yet to try

Enjoy

-Xtremespino

[boolybooly]

Thanks for your mission reports and screenshots all.

Congratulations to :

• g00bd0g (nice Mün landing),
  
• winginson (good luck developing power to weight),
  
• Ravenchant (nice to see docking),
  
• GraviTykillz (holy batbirds batman, nice paint job),
  
• xtremespino (thanks for your video, more docking, competent piloting and aerospace museum)
  

for completing the K-Prize mission successfully.

Your names have been added to the guest list (aka roll of honour) with your awards and you are entitled to wear a K-Prize badge.

Spartwo and zekes, watch out for the bouncers! But thanks for your shuttle screenies nevertheless.

[annikk.exe]

Here is my entry, the unimaginitively titled "SSTO".

It weighs 3.22 tons only, so I think this should be a contender for the minimalist design? The current best in this category seems to be just under 5 tons.

Click for gallery

I'll edit this post and add the craft file when I'm allowed to attach files! :>

EDIT: for now, here's a dropbox link instead.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ya0bra5iyb7toro/SSTO.craft

Also just realised someone has done it in 1.14 tons... Ohh well

Edited November 28, 2013 by annikk.exe
Adding dropbox link

[Spartwo]

Spartwo and zekes, watch out for the bouncers! But thanks for your shuttle screenies nevertheless.

Don't worry I have something...astronomical up my sleeve.

[boolybooly]

Sounds interesting!

Sorry annikk.exe I messed up the minimalist thing, didnt delete the previous winning entry. Done now. Thanks for your screenies and Imgur mission report link. Congratulations on winning the K-Prize and advanced pilot precision award with the economical looking SSTO. Welcome to the guest list aka the roll of honour.