Building an science SSTO for Laythe exploration

[Warzouz]

I'm currently thinking ahead (my Duna mission hasn't landed yet), but I'm wondering how to build a plane SSTO to explore Laythe.

My main station would be orbiting Vall. I've calculated that I would need 1500 m/s to come from Vall to an eliptic orbit (aero-braking) and get back from Laythe orbit to Vall station rendez-vous. That doesn't include the Laythe fly to orbit (around 2900m/s with a rocket).

Questions :

- How can I evaluate the fuel I need for a Laythe plane SSTO for surface to low orbit and surface to surface hops ? If it's Kerbin capable, will it be Laythe capable ?

- As the ship would be a science MK2 vessel (probably a small bay with equipement), would you build it to be able to go to Vall on it's own or to be trucked by some kind of tug ?

- In case of a reusable-tug, how would you design the whole ship ? I was thinking of a reversed tug which attach itself on a shielded nose docking port. In that case, the tug should have 2000m/s as it'll have to wait for the plane in Laythe low orbit.

Any insight ?

[Evanitis]

Considering that Laythe is smaller than Kerbin, taking off from there with an SSTO requires less dV than a regular one. Not sure about the exact numbers - I tend to just take Kerbin capable planes there. Also, if it can takeoff from Kerbin, after refueling it should have enough dV to get to your Vall station. Roughly. I'm not sure how safe aerobraking is, but gravity assists can slow you down with minimal fuel spent.

Of course using a tug makes it easier. My hint is to pull the craft instead of pushing it - having the tug on the back means vobbling, that can make the transfer difficult.

[Warzouz]

I could do a nose Pulling. As the plane would be in the correct orientation, I could even use the plane engines, no need for engines on the tug. That would mean to create a SSTO with double TJ and one LVN. Never tried that. My current SSTO (kerbin, passenger) is quite heavy (38T with 2 Rapiers + 1 TJ).

To orbit all that stuff : the tug could be carried by a regular rocket (with many other stuff as I usually do) and the plan would take off as SSTO plane and rendez-vous with the tug.

[Red Iron Crown]

I wouldn't bother with a tug for such short transfers, I'd use an LV-N/Rapier hybrid so you don't need any oxidizer. Laythe's atmo lets you run the air-breathers to much higher altitude, you won't need the closed cycle mode of the Rapiers like you would on Kerbin.

[Warzouz]

TurboJets wouldn't be better if using rapier on air-mode only ?

[Red Iron Crown]

Rapiers can work at higher speeds, so I would use them even if not using their closed cycle mode. Though I would imagine that a turbojet/LV-N hybrid could work.