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

[Camaron]

Goodluck megatiger78, I feel I ought to check you know that the take off for a K-Prize mission needs to move horizontally as its first direction of travel.

I think that's what he meant by "some refits"

Hey boolybooly, is a Cargoy bay required to drop off a cargo achievement, or can I drop it off any way I choose?

Edited January 14, 2015 by Camaron

[Horus5239]

I have a quick question re: missions to other celestial bodies such as moons or planets. I have a few designs I could enter, but I want to know how big of a mission I can plan and have it "count." Basically, if I have to stop to refuel in LKO, or even Mun/Minmus orbit to return, would I still be eligible for those distinctions?

[GeorgeG]

I have made some SSTO's lately. One is a contender for lightest SSTO space plane. The album below has many pics of interest and some which document what I write below.

EDIT - These were flown in .90 (Probably obvious by the time you see the docking target ship)

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MicroJet 1.2. Mass on runway ready for takeoff, 2.543 ton. To get the pilot aboard, rather than the hassle of a crewed rover near the runway for every flight, attempt, I used a subassembly of ladders and Mk1 pod coupled to one of the jet's engines. After climbing the ladders to get aboard, that subassembly was decoupled (mass of decoupled subassembly not included in takeoff mass).

It flew to a 136 km orbit, with 311 ms dV left.

Landed safely at KSC.

Second Ship: MicroJet RSC-dock. It is the above modified with RCS and a docking port, and other tweaks. Mass ready for takeoff, 2.662 ton

After circularization burn, 388 ms Dv left. 95 km orbit.

It docked with a big SSTO spaceplane. The album has many interesting pics of it with that big Space Plane and others.

The MicroJet RCS-Dock had 325 ms of DV left after undocking, 189 ms left after deorbit burn. Landed safely, with 122 ms dV of fuel left (for rocket mode)

Next, MicroJet Dock 3. It is a version of the above ship, modified to carry three 3 Kerbals. Mass at take-off of 3.054 ton. I know, no official category for lightest that carries three.

Flew to an 88.6 km orbit, then waited for a rendezvous with the big SSTO space plane in a 75 km orbit. It only had 261 ms of dV left, so the small difference in orbital altitudes helped reduce the amount needed for rendezvous.

It docked with the big SSTO Space Plane. And yes, on the previous flight, that was a 3-Kerbal MicroJet docked to the front. In game-play the "second flight" documented above was flown after this one, but I wanted to present them in order of ship creation.

Many more pics in the album, including EVA's. I know the big SSTO Space Plane won't count for anything until I document it's flight from start to safe landing, and that the Mun Lander won't count for anything more than a "payload" once released since the SSTO only delivers it in LKO.

After the spaceparty was over, MicroJet 3 undocked and landed safely back at KSC. I was concerned about not having enough fuel left, but had a lot of RCS left. So I used only the RCS for a retro "burn" on the other side of the planet, to lower the periapsis enough to cause a slow gradual re-entry (the 75 km orbit for rendezvous also helped a lot). I used MechJeb's projected landing distance error to help get it close. So, it did not use a drop of rocket fuel to re-enter, only RCS monopropellant. And it landed safely.

Final ship, new album, Corvette R6 Payload:

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For purists who not only want to have their Kerbals inside of a pod/cockpit, and prefer something that looks more "realistic" and sleek, then here is a sporty 2-seater. Corvette R6, with Payload. It does not climb as fast as the MicroJet, but is not skittish and has plenty of fuel to get to a nice orbit with enough Delta-V left (600 or more, I think one really good jet climb had nearly 700 dV left over) and way plenty monopropellant to rendezvous and dock.

It handles very nicely, good control response. Sometimes on landing it may be a bit nose-heavy, I transfer remaining fuel to the aft 100 liter tank to move the CG back. The wings provide a lot of area, allowing it to have a pretty decent glide, or requiring less throttle to maintain altitude.

This one is not a record setter, as it is over 6 tons (6.237). So, it's shown "for fun", and to officially do a flight that took off with a payload, released the payload, then recovered the payload and brought it back. It also handles well for docking maneuvers.

In addition to the "official" flight, I did some more. Docked two of them. And a bit more fun. See the album. Below, a pic of all of the SSTO's above, and a few more.

Also, had one of the craziest incidents (bug) right after landing the last "plane"….. a big BANG.... but it wasn't my fault. See the album!

Now to get back to the bigger SSTO planes.

- GeorgeG

Edited January 16, 2015 by GeorgeG

[Starhawk]

May I humbly submit for your perusal my (rather long) mission album for the debut of the Spacehawk Mk2.

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On the two test runs I didn't quite nail the ascent profile, but I got it perfect this time.

I hoped to get a shot of the actual munar take off. There's a vernor engine under the nose to tip the craft back onto the turbojets before firing up the LV-N.

I got a little intent on the process during rendezvous and docking and forgot to get any screenshots.

Hope you like it!

[EDIT] Forgot to say, it uses significant (to me) clipping. Only a bit for the forward wings, but the LV-N is way inside the central tank.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Starhawk

[Starwhip]

May I humbly submit for your perusal my (rather long) mission album for the debut of the Spacehawk Mk2.

Right. We both have very creative naming schemes. XD

Starstreaker and Spacehawk.

[Starhawk]

Right. We both have very creative naming schemes. XD

Starstreaker and Spacehawk.

Yeah, a bit unfortunately named especially considering the username I chose, but the name predates my joining the forum.

The Spacehawk Mk2 is loosely based on something I built and named back in 0.24.

Most of my stuff is even more imaginatively named - like 'Mun Lander 1a', 'Eve Lander 4w' and such.

[Starwhip]

Yeah, a bit unfortunately named especially considering the username I chose, but the name predates my joining the forum.

The Spacehawk Mk2 is loosely based on something I built and named back in 0.24.

Most of my stuff is even more imaginatively named - like 'Mun Lander 1a', 'Eve Lander 4w' and such.

My username as well. I've never been able to come up with anything better, so it stuck.

Anyways...

I'm coming for you, K-Prize 0.90.0.

ONE thing that I want to clarify, though. Do you need to deliver a payload INTO ORBIT, or can the payload establish it's own orbit?

I'm going to deliver it anyway, but it would be nice to know for later.

[Starhawk]

@Starwhip: That Starstreaker is very pretty.

I've come to love the dual-turbojet & LV-N combo in the time I've been building spaceplanes.

[Starwhip]

@Starwhip: That Starstreaker is very pretty.

I've come to love the dual-turbojet & LV-N combo in the time I've been building spaceplanes.

Except this one is a triple-turbojet LV-N combo. I found a very, very cool flight plan if you have an odd number of engines...

And the mission is currently returning to Kerbin, after delivering a probe in Minmus orbit and a beacon on the surface.

I'll have about 30 m/s of LV-N delta-v left over.

Too close.

Maybe I'll even hit the KSC again! That would be amazing.

[Camaron]

Here is my my full submission.

Terranova V drops off two satellite missions, one around Kerbin, one around Minmus, and successfully lands safely at home.

It breaks two jets on landing. It's a design flaw that would be nearly impossible to avoid, so I didn't make a take-two for the landing. I'll design better next time!

Enjoy some random Pandora music with Ads while you watch.

Here's some old school 90's style links.

I am well aware that there were many huge flaws in some of the methods I use. Less than efficient burns, use of LV-N's to reach orbital speed instead of a long high-atmosphere acceleration, and an overweight plane that takes off like a beached whale. (It takes off way better without the extra tanks I added to the LV-N's.)

My general policy is: If my ship can't do the mission through my impatience, lousy timing, etc, it ain't good enough. It's like a constant design challenge.

I've just realized that this plane won't qualify at this point, because the two satellites it dropped off gave it fuel - Breaks the "no fuel from payloads" rule. Sorry about that!

Edited January 16, 2015 by Camaron

[ManlyPotatoe]

I have built my plane based on one principle: if it doesn't go to space, cheat. Fortunately, it did go to space the 'first' time, and i have definitely not cheated in any way at all, not even just a subtle use of gravity hacks. no cheats what so ever*

As you can see, my plane made it to a PE of above 70,000m.

[Note] i did not complete the manoeuvre, as oxidizer was very low.

Unfortunately, i could note achieve a landing at KSC, because Bill wanted to land in the sand, and Jebediah refused. Bill proceeded to hack the fuel gauge into making it seem like liquid fuel was running low. As a consequence, we had to glide into the desert with 'zero' fuel.

*However, Lets just say I'm a fan of the offset tool.

*i will happily take a gate crashes award if you don't believe me.

- - - Updated - - -

Someone please show me how to embed youtube on KSP forum.

You press the button to the right of the photo button, and paste the link of the embed link on your video.

to find the embed link, press the share button on your video page, and copy the link.

Example (i hope it's okay that i use this video):

Just for reference, your embed links are:

Part 1: http://youtu.be/fQWpdudOmwI

Part 2: http://youtu.be/9K8hnxphojs

Part 3: http://youtu.be/W_HQfp5UU9E

Hope this helped. ^=^

Edited January 16, 2015 by ManlyPotatoe
Taking out a part not intended to be in this post.

[Starwhip]

First things first: I managed to make it back to KSC.

However, just as I was landing, some of my wings exploded. I got a screenshot of the flight log, however, to show that they "collided with Launchpad". As it was not my fault that parts were removed, and was a bug, so I still believe that my entry should be accepted.

Here it is. With the Starstreaker III, a mission to Minmus and back, deployment of an orbital science satellite in Minmus orbit, and a landing beacon for future missions. Starstreaker III made it back to the KSC runway as well at the end of the mission. (With 12 units of oxidizer, YIKES! )

*PLEASE WAIT FOR MASSIVE MISSION ALBUM TO UPLOAD*

EDIT: Huzzah!

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Edited January 16, 2015 by Starwhip

[Starhawk]

...just as I was landing, some of my wings exploded. I got a screenshot of the flight log, however, to show that they "collided with Launchpad". As it was not my fault that parts were removed, and was a bug, so I still believe that my entry should be accepted.

Yeah, I've experienced that bug myself three or four times.

Starstreaker III

Nice craft. I think it's even prettier than its predecessor.

I have two questions.

1. How much mass before takeoff?

2. Did you have any difficulty with placement of the central turbojet or LV-N?

I messed with a similar setup a couple of releases ago, but had trouble getting the thrust centered. I suppose the gizmos would make that much easier now.

Cheers

Edited January 16, 2015 by Starhawk

[Starwhip]

I have two questions.

1. How much mass before takeoff?

2. Did you have any difficulty with placement of the central turbojet or LV-N?

1: 19.9 tons.

2: Indeed, praise the gizmos. I made a subassembly a while back, called the Longsword Hybrid Engine, that had a turbojet and an LV-N. I just stuck it on the stack node behind the fuel tank and shoved it inside a bit. Then the other two turbojets were shoved sideways to sit next to the center one.

[boolybooly]

Camaron, cargo bay is not compulsory, you can drop stuff any which way you choose. Your report of further explosions (bad luck) and fuel shenanegins has been linked by adding it to your existing gatecrasher entry. Hope that is OK.

Horus5239 to answer your question, craft can be as big as you like but refuelling is not part of the K-Prize mission parameters, please see Proviso B for rule 1 on the rules page.

Congratulations to :-

GeorgeG on acquiring the minimalist record for the while and thankyou for no less than four successful K-Prize missions in one report.

Starhawk on reaching the Mün and getting back in one piece ++.

ManlyPotatoe on getting into orbit and back without cheating.

All linked and logged and thanks to all for your reports and participation.

Starwhip I am really sorry about this as its a good mission with the two utilitarial deliveries on Minmus, going well right up to the explosion thing but if you are saying your Starstreaker III mission craft had bits explode on landing it cannot count as a K-Prize until landing is completed without exploding, though you can replay from a save and that is fine. I am afraid your craft and GeorgeG's triple decker undoubtedly ran into a bug. It has happened before and the precedent is that you get a gatecrasher report link. The option exists that if you complete the mission from a save or rerun it without incident you can have a party guest list link for the successful mission and the gatecrasher link removed, your call. I recommend reporting this on Squad bugtracker, including relevant info about which version of the game you are playing (sandpit,career) and the conditions surrounding the event and any replication attempts.

Edited January 17, 2015 by boolybooly

[norup]

It took me several tries to make a MK3-based SSTO, and only after being inspired by the Skylon design did I reach something that performed decently. So why not use it for a K-Prize entry?

This MK3 Skylon delivers a fuel-less satellite to a periapse of 73km and then continues to dock with a rather tiny space station at 121 km periapse, with no fuel transfer. It then returns to KSC and lands on the runway.

Dry weight is 14.2T, fueled 64.4T

All parts are stock, built and flown in v0.90

This is my first submission of this kind, so please let me know if anything is missing.

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Edited January 17, 2015 by norup
Finally figured imgur embedding out

[boolybooly]

Looks good norup, congratulations on completing the K-Prize challenge successfully with your Skylon inspired design, which it just so happens is heavy enough to become the new maximalist record holder. Welcome to the guest list for the K-Prize party aka the roll of honour.

[Camaron]

KSP decided to gently corrupt my career save in such a way that the editor no longer functions properly. In the event that I'm wrong or an easy fix exists, I am backing up the folder, then wiping it clean. No ETA on when Ill be able to competently produce space planes again.

Also, boolybooly, I didn't have any previous K-Prize entry before Terranova V. I think you got me mixed up with another poster.

Camaron, cargo bay is not compulsory, you can drop stuff any which way you choose. Your report of further explosions (bad luck) and fuel shenanegins has been linked by adding it to your existing gatecrasher entry. Hope that is OK.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Camaron

[boolybooly]

Sorry Camaron, I cannot really explain why I added your link to Captain Vlad's gatecrasher... anyway I may have been distracted. I have given you your very own well deserved gatecrasher listing now. Sorry to hear about your game save, I know space planes are quite a long way into the game having got there myself only recently. Hope you find a fix or alternatively enjoy the replay.

Maybe you should post the corrupted saves on the bugtracker so squad can take a look at them?

[Merandix]

After having taken a lot of time (and helpful tips from the forum) I finally have completed my proof of concept that you can indeed build Mk3 aircraft with a 'low' Thrust to Weight Ratio. So, huge wings, and only 8 engines to propel the Meridian Aerospace HSP-1 Svadilvari into a low Kerbin orbit with 27,2 tonnes of payload. Considering her nearly week long development time, I thought I should enter her for my first ever K-prize entry!

Went up, dropped payload off into a roughly 75*80 km orbit and returned to land at KSC's runway. Didn't touch a single drop of my payload's fuel and oxidiser.

Ok, time for some numbers:

8,6 meters high

26,1 meters long

53(!) meters wide

34,9 tonnes dry weight without payload

71,9 tonnes fully fuelled

67,8 tonnes fuelled for this flight, minus payload

95,1 tonnes take-off weight for this flight, with 27,2 tonnes of payload.

99,2 tonnes maximum take-off weight (as far as I've tested).

4 turbojets and 4 RAPIERS for about 800 kN of take-off thrust, and 1660 kN max thrust (which is quite modest for a spaceplane this size I believe). And yes, she takes off with a TWR of only 0,84:1 . Max TWR at 1000 m/s is probably somewhere between 1,8:1 and 2:1. An approximate Lift to Weight Ratio of around 0,66:1.

Note, I ran a little low on oxidiser due to me being stingy and thinking I had enough aboard. I therefore ran a little short on my deorbit burn and had to turn around and land from the other side. Other than that, no incidents. The extra 4 tonnes of she could take off with is pretty much all room for oxidiser.

She's slow, but she'll get the job done!

Note, Svadilvari was an absurdly strong giant horse from Norse mythology. He's Sleipnir's daddy (Sleipnir being Odin's horse, and for those unfamiliar, Odin being the chief Deity of Norse Mythology).

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edit:

note that the entire build is stock. I use only two mods to make construction a bit less time consuming, and they're both informative: RCS build aid and Intake build aid.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Merandix

[Starwhip]

Starwhip I am really sorry about this as its a good mission with the two utilitarial deliveries on Minmus, going well right up to the explosion thing but if you are saying your Starstreaker III mission craft had bits explode on landing it cannot count as a K-Prize until landing is completed without exploding, though you can replay from a save and that is fine. I am afraid your craft and GeorgeG's triple decker undoubtedly ran into a bug. It has happened before and the precedent is that you get a gatecrasher report link. The option exists that if you complete the mission from a save or rerun it without incident you can have a party guest list link for the successful mission and the gatecrasher link removed, your call. I recommend reporting this on Squad bugtracker, including relevant info about which version of the game you are playing (sandpit,career) and the conditions surrounding the event and any replication attempts.

Aww. Dammit, Jeb, stop fiddling with my bolts when I tell you you can't fly!

Right, thanks for the heads-up. I've got a quicksave somewhere along the line, I'll upload the landed screenshot as soon as possible.

EDIT:

Here we go. Is this proof enough?

Edited January 18, 2015 by Starwhip

[Cupcake...]

Heh all,

Long time no see. Despite the plot there is an official K-prize entry lurking underneath.

The ship itself (Sprite) weighs in at 11.47 tons on startup and is powered by a single Turbojet and a pair of Rockomax 48-7S's. Due to pacing I had to cut the smaller corrective burns from the video but I think I've got all the main ones in there. Cheers.

Cupcake...

Edited January 19, 2015 by Cupcake...

[Sean Mirrsen]

Aww. Dammit, Jeb, stop fiddling with my bolts when I tell you you can't fly!

Right, thanks for the heads-up. I've got a quicksave somewhere along the line, I'll upload the landed screenshot as soon as possible.

EDIT:

http://i.imgur.com/xfORcSj.png

Here we go. Is this proof enough?

Hm. On one hand, I don't think the challenge rules say anything about intakes. On the other hand, I think they should (this being an SSTO challenge; I mean, even custom RCS blocks count), and I don't know what mod those intakes are from.

[Starwhip]

Hm. On one hand, I don't think the challenge rules say anything about intakes. On the other hand, I think they should (this being an SSTO challenge; I mean, even custom RCS blocks count), and I don't know what mod those intakes are from.

They are from the Stock mod.

Say hello to my subassembly skills. The new gizmos are great.

[Sean Mirrsen]

They are from the Stock mod.

Say hello to my subassembly skills. The new gizmos are great.

http://i.imgur.com/N32m3t0.png

Oh. OH! They're radial-symmetry mounted structural intakes! D: I couldn't see that because most pictures show the assembly from behind, or at such an angle that it looks like one part.

Okay, that is seriously impressive.

Well then, here's my gatecrasher entry then. I'll whip up something more proper (and less silly) sometime later then.

I don't really have a name for this contraption, but its working name is the Stupeflyer Mk2.

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The massive intake that forms the central hull is from the Mark IV Spaceplane Parts mod, it's just a huge intake with a stack node in the back, no fuel. Everything else is stock. The command pod is detached before the craft moves anywhere, technically it's not part of the craft that takes off at all. The craft is intentionally fueled to about a third of the tanks' capacity to lighten it, but it might reach orbit with full tanks just as well.