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

[Mister Dilsby]

I wasn't sure if it could be done, so I tried to do it.

The Nooxie 4A is as far as I know the first SSTO spaceplane in V1.0.2 to orbit without oxidant.

ETA: Rune beat me to it, I missed his post on the "Is there any hope for SSTO?" thread.

Engines: Twin turbo ramjets, singe LV-N

Crew: One

Takeoff Mass: 12.7t

Cargo: Minimal (single 1.25 meter bay)

Ascent profile is to climb to ~8500m at mach 1-2, then punch the throttle and accelerate to max speed in a 30-40 degree climb, shooting through the 'danger zone' before anything burns up. I turn on the LV-N at about 18km and turn off the jets when they run out of air. I think I could optimize to a more efficient ascent profile, by reducing the angle of the high speed climb phase. Will wait to do that until temp gauges no longer cause a system crash

Album below of one round trip to and from the KSC runway. Enjoy!

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Edited May 6, 2015 by Kuzzter

[Slugy]

Here's a 1.02 low part count, single engine cargo carrier - 27 parts, 6t to orbit with fuel to spare (570 dV left once cargo deployed, in this flight), ~16t fuelled without cargo, and as it turns out enough fuel to fly a quarter of the way round Kerbin after overshooting the runway a little ...

A similar design is easily capable of 2 trips to orbit without refuelling.

The angle (and size) of the wings is important: it takes off with no input, and flys with no/minimal input, the thrust vector should be very close to zero in KER. Also note the climb (then dive) flight path.

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[Maelstrom Vortex]

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Behold.. Megalifth Mk2. 50 Ton station deployment vessel. Not only is it a space plane that can make orbit, it is a space plane that can make orbit with a 50 ton payload. All stock as of v 1.02

Edited May 7, 2015 by Maelstrom Vortex

[SuperHappySquid]

I'd like to submit my entry for the K Prize!

This video documents the mission in it's entirety and no cuts were made. I imagine I could have landed back on the runway, but I'm still getting used to the new drag in 1.0, so I fell a little short.

I hope the video is sufficient evidence, if not let me know and I'll re-submit a new mission with screenshots as well.

Thanks!

[cybersol]

Here is my first K-prize entry. On stock 1.0.2, I present to you all the Hammer Orange SSTO:

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Cheers,

CyberSoul

[Sean Mirrsen]

I have a question in regards to the challenge rules.

With the new aerodynamics and heating, it's become hard to make SSTO spaceplanes that go places beyond orbit, without some form of refuelling. But, refuelling breaks the rules of the challenge.

However, would it be fair to use composite SSTO missions? For instance, an SSTO spaceplane dedicated to going to Laythe, launching into orbit, expending its fuel. Another SSTO spaceplane, dedicated to bringing up fuel, supplies the Laythe craft with fuel, then returns. The first craft then goes to Laythe and completes its mission. Would that break the rules, since there is refueling, or would all craft involved being single-stage-to-orbit spaceplanes make it compliant?

[Mic_n]

I think the concept is that it's one craft.

Technically, two single-stage craft are.. two stages

Just personal opinion there, of course. Still a hell of an achievement, but I don't think that'd count as a single stage to Laythe or anything..

I put my new 1.x career-mode on hold earlier on to jump into sandbox and try some designs.. did manage to get what's basically a microlight you could probably launch a minimal science satellite with.. It's certainly more challenging than beta versions with the thrust from jet engines tailing off so much more dramatically, but it's still

[Roflcopterkklol]

Cronus titan hauler SSTO

Description:

Capable of carrying 80 tons into LKO with engines any stock SSTO would be jealous of, Cronus burns fuel evenly (That was a head ache to figure out lol), it is capable of 100-300km orbits depending on the pilot (into the millions if storage is used for delta V) and in the atmosphere it flies like a dream with a 140m/s take off and extremely stable once in the air, flyable without SAS control even for the less skilled pilots

Cost:

688,420

Weight:

556.3 Tons

Part count:

587

(Nearly down to 1 per ton not bad imo)

Action groups:

1:Toggle Turbo jets

2:Toggle Rapiers

3:Toggle Rapier engine mode

4:Toggle aero spikes

5:Toggle solar panels

Flight instructions:

On launch picth up to 40 degree and continue until 12km, at 12km bring the pitch down to +5degree and gain speed until 800-1100m/s, at 800-1100m/s bring the pitch up to +20 degree until 20km, at 20km you will need to hit action group 4 engaging aero spikes, at 22-24km you will need to hit action group 3 to switch rapier engine mode, after turbo jets die off at 26km bring the pitch to +30 degree and continue until a 100km apoapsis then procede with orbital maneuver, Good luck and have fun.

Before rentry you will want to move some fuel to some of the forward most fuel tanks for flight stability.

Download link:

http://www./download/ctpapi4ix11rtxs/Cronus+-+Titan+hauler+SSTO.craft

I will update the landing when i actually get around to landing it

Edited May 13, 2015 by Roflcopterkklol

[kahlzun]

Hi guys!

It's me, again.

Playing it safe this time: very boring generic SSTO.

Original design had a tailfin, but it kept overheating on the way up, so i thought "screw it" and took it off.

Note that the "QM" in the name was to represent a ?.

Ship names can't include them for some reason. Wasn't confident about getting this 'up there' successfully.

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Edited May 16, 2015 by kahlzun

[hebdomad]

Ok, so it's been a while since I've made a spaceplane. Honestly, since I heard about the new aerodynamics, I've been waiting for 1.0

So here is a sneak peek to what I've been working on.

[Kagame]

Okay, I honestly suprised myself with this one. She's the best-mannered SSTO I've ever made- and she just so happens to be a reasonably accurate replica of the XB-70 Valkyrie. In SPACE. If only we had dual-mode engines in the 1970s, imagine what would have happened...Has two cargo bays, but since I'm not terribly confident in this thing's ability to get to orbit and back with any payload weighing more than a can of tomato paste, I left them dry this run. Simply took off from KSC, achieved stable LKO, burned retrograde to get out of LKO, then landed on some random piece of grass.

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[boolybooly]

Thanks to all for your mission reports. Congratulations to ...

sdj64 Astrokerbal Distinction (Minmus), Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Zanzibar.

Kuzzter Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Nooxie 4A.

Slugy Utilitarial Commendation, Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Rapier cargo.

SuperHappySquid Utilitarial Commendation with SSTO Tiny Cargo.

Cybersol Utilitarial Commendation (40t), Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1st Class with Hammer Orange SSTO (178.958t).

kahlzun Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Space QM.

Kagame with XB-70 Valkyrie SSTO.

... for completing the K-Prize mission successfully. Welcome to the K-Prize party guest list.

Ion Man, Maelstrom Vortex, Roflcopterkklol and hebdomad, did they land safely ?

Sean Mirrsen that would definitely be two missions and the second refuel one could count as a K-Prize. Its good that its hard adds to the fun of the challenge.

[Tarmenius]

After playing KSP since 0.13, adjusting to the new aero is taking some time, but I think I'm beginning to get a handle on it now. And so I present my 1.0 entry, the Jatayu:

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A less-than-optimal ascent left me with little fuel for orbital maneuvers, and so most of my RCS had to be used to for the rendezvous. But re-entry was quite manageable with only the intakes threatening to overheat, and I intentionally overshot KSC in order to conserve fuel and test the airbrakes. Gliding to the runway was really easy thanks to the lifting body fuselages and landing was achieved at a very gentle 55 m/s. The "test flight" of this craft (which included the payload) had a much smoother ascent, though, and so had plenty of fuel for rendezvous and de-orbit, but there was no station to dock with at the time so it went undocumented.

Thanks (again) boolybooly for continuing to host this challenge!

[percyPrune]

Seeing as I have bypassed 0.25, 0.90 & 1.0 altogether, here is my 1.0.2 entry. A modest amount of cargo this time with the "Hotdog4":

Aargh! Still can't get the album to display! Linky: http://imgur.com/a/sE4P6#0

Edited May 24, 2015 by percyPrune
I'm useless at embedding html!

[Randazzo]

1.02 K-Prize Entry - Kestrel II

Kestrel reborn for 1.02! Same mission profile as the original. Prior to launch, a single Tin Can containing one kerbal or twenty kilograms of soylent green was launched into LKO (84km). Kestrel II lifted off from the runway, rendezvoused and docked with the Tin Can, rescued Bill from it's confines, and returned to the runway in just shy of two and a half hours. It could've been somewhat less but I finagled the rendezvous to be in sunlight this time. Entirely stock parts with the exception of a KER unit. A special thanks to KerikBalm, without whose guidance I'd still be stuck sub-orbital.

Pertinent mods:

• Kerbal Engineer Redux
  
• RealChutes (for ground deployment funtionality)
  

Album

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[redsh]

That's my simple contribution. Craft: mini buzzer orbital, weight: 10.0 tons.

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[Stochasty]

Finally got a halfway decent spaceplane into orbit. Here's a few trips:

First trip, a simple test flight to orbit and back:

http://imgur.com/a/yXHb6

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Next trip, a quick pitstop on Minmus:

http://imgur.com/a/uRJke

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Next up, the Mun!

http://imgur.com/a/TYpch

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And finally, Duna

http://imgur.com/a/IL86u

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Barely. Needed an 8 m/s burn on the trip home to drop periapsis into the atmosphere... and I almost didn't have enough. Less than 3 m/s left in the tank at the end.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Stochasty

[ILikeIke]

Here's my entry for the K Prize: http://imgur.com/a/8PoFu#0.

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My ascent profile isn't that great- I think I'm lucky that I didn't lose any parts to "re-entry heating" on ascent. Does anybody know what the technical term for "re-entry heating" is when you're intentionally leaving the atmosphere?

My landing accidentally occurred on the night side of Kerbin because I tried and failed to use MechJeb to target the KSC landing strip . MechJeb failed in this instance because there wasn't enough Oxidizer for the maneuver, not because of a software error. It didn't even get me into the atmosphere- I finished the de-orbit burn with Monopropellant and the RCS system. But during the descent, I managed to totally avoid significant re-entry heating by pitching to 40° above the horizon until around 40 km.

I should probably add that this was the second flight of my first SSTO design in 1.0.2 (and my second serious SSTO design attempt ever). I should be able to fly SSTO Tsiolkovsky without needing RCS for the de-orbit burn- I was impatient and did a couple maneuver nodes earlier than I should have, which probably wasted fuel. Also, the screenshot system on my computer automatically throttles up the engines, which made me even less efficient.

Next up: see if I can get Tsiolkovsky on a one-way trip to Ike! Because I like Ike!

Edited June 5, 2015 by ILikeIke

[boolybooly]

Congratulations to ...

Tarmenius Utilitarial Commendation, Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1st Class with Jatayu.

percyPrune Utilitarial Commendation, Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Hotdog4.

Randazzo Advanced Pilot Precision Award 1st Class with Kestrel II.

redsh Advanced Pilot Precision Award with mini buzzer orbital.

Stochasty Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Upn Atom VI.

- Astrokerbal Distinction (Minmus), Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Upn Atom VI.

- Astrokerbal Distinction (Mün), Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Upn Atom VI.

- Astrokerbal Distinction (Duna), Advanced Pilot Precision Award with Upn Atom VI.

ILikeIke with Tsiolkovsky.

... on completing the K-Prize mission with flying colours and thankyou for your mission reports / comedy sketches! Let me know if I missed anything. Its worth remarking that the K-Prize has become more of a challenge with the new physics so its gratifying to see these effective spaceplanes in action. I am certainly taking a few pointers myself and I am sure that other KSP players will likewise find these designs instructive. Thanks again and welcome to the K-Prize party guest list aka the roll of honour.

[Terh]

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I finally did something I am satisfied to show you.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Terh
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[LittleBlueGaming]

Here's my entry, I'm starting to get my head wrapped around spaceplanes. Wanted to make something small to start, so I present the Pugio Mk 1.

I did lose two airbrakes on landing since they were still set with the brakes. I had changed that on a previous version, and thought it was still changed in this version. If I have to, I can redo the flight so as to not lose any parts.

21 parts

7.6 tons at launch

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[georgTF]

I finally did something I am satisfied to show you.

That is delicious enough to eat. Great work!

[psyberduckling]

Well I managed to get to Laythe, no ISRU, no overlapping parts didn't even use gravity assists to lower the dV needed.

Might be possible to do the round trip with a lot of gravity assist and carrying a bit more lox.

Not really a competition entry, I didn't manage to return it to Kerbin this time.

[TrainEngie]

"All fuel tanks, wings (ie lift generators & aerodynamic environments) and engine parts must be stock, for fairness." ~boolybooly, The K Prize.

Aww, that means no FAR.

Well, the RAMSES wasn't enough, so I'm coming back!

[NikkyD]

I been trying to get my new lightweight design back into the contest but somehow the glide-phase is completely messed up. I always get into a flat spin because i have to attach the wings completely in the middle because the rapier pushes the CoM there!

Air intake on/in the nose generates so much drag, the second it goes off prograde upon landing phase it starts spinning