Satellites with Minimal Space Debris

[Mini]

Hello!

Have been playing Kerbal Space Program for a while now and I have become very proficient in Orbits, Mun Landings and the like but with this new patch and persistence of space debris i would like to keep space as clean as possible but still have satellites.

Now my best method so far is to have a first stage which gets me to a half way house so to speak, if i don\'t like the way the orbit is going I can abort if I do I can proceed, the stage after this burns to make my orbit cyclical, I then jettison this stage with retro burners (from Silisko\'s MOD) to get it as far away as possible and there you go, one satellite in orbit. However that second stage is still there following along not too far behind.

I have tried a similar solution by putting the satellite in the middle but I am still left with the previous stage in orbit.

I have not attempted strapping a satellite to the side of something yet because I feel it may become to imbalanced and having not killed Bill, Jeb and Bob yet I don\'t want to now! =P

Any ideas, tips or tricks?

Cheers

Mini

[sal_vager]

Something I try to do is configure my upper stage as a tugboat with side mounted engines, that way I can tow a line of satellites into place and jettison each one when I am ready, before finally returning to Kerbin.

[Maraz]

You can arrange a satellite on top of your crew module, then decouple it, then go back to kerbin with your command module and spacecraft.

See this example (needs mods: Dynasat, NovaPunch and maybe something else)

.

Maraz

[Alchemist]

There are multiple variants:

Payload under the command module:

- side-mounted engines on the top stage

- use RCS of the top stage for circularization and orbit corrections

Top-mounted payload:

- chute that allows attaching on top

- side-mounted chutes

- powered landing

- horizontal landing (plane)

- unmanned vehicle (just crash it)

Side mounted pauload (multiple sats)

[mockingking]

Or just do it like I do: Use unmanned command capsules and attach your sattelite solidly. Now it\'s a bloody big sattelite, and you can even use the remaining fuel to make course corrections if the orbit should, at some future point, no longer please you.

Of course, in the end it\'s better to send a kill vehicle and blow them up than to de-orbit them...after all, heavy as they are, they might fall on somebody\'s head!

[stargazer2041]

hello space explorers, i\'m new to ksp, about a week in. after messing around and getting use to everything, i decided on a mission to put a satellite in to orbit around kerth. after many failed attempts just lifting the satellite out of the atmosphere, i finally managed on a rocket design. after i made into space i got in to a circular orbit and released my satellite in orbit around kerth. my only problem is 1) not being to got back to my satellite to observe of kerth and make adjustments if needed. 2) on the map it shows up as debris 3) the real debris that is floating near by like the spent rocket engines and decouplers. now my question is 1) is there a way to be able to go back to a satellite after in orbit? maybe a second command pod? 2) how can i make it so it doesn\'t so up as debris when its a satellite. 3) how can i get ride of space debris with out gettin rid og my satellite?

thank you all in advanced.

[mockingking]

hello space explorers, i\'m new to ksp, about a week in. after messing around and getting use to everything, i decided on a mission to put a satellite in to orbit around kerth. after many failed attempts just lifting the satellite out of the atmosphere, i finally managed on a rocket design. after i made into space i got in to a circular orbit and released my satellite in orbit around kerth. my only problem is 1) not being to got back to my satellite to observe of kerth and make adjustments if needed. 2) on the map it shows up as debris 3) the real debris that is floating near by like the spent rocket engines and decouplers. now my question is 1) is there a way to be able to go back to a satellite after in orbit? maybe a second command pod? 2) how can i make it so it doesn\'t so up as debris when its a satellite. 3) how can i get ride of space debris with out gettin rid og my satellite?

thank you all in advanced.

Just out of curiosity; is English your first language?

Anyways: To get back to your sattelite, start another launch, but instead of actually launching press 'm' and double-klick on the Sattelite debris. To make it show up as something other than debris, keep a command pod attached to the sattelite. To get rid of debris, either use the launch-m-doubleclick method, then press Escape and End the flight, or find a way of destroying it.

Ways of destroying debris:

1. Kill vehicle. Make a rocket and fly it straight into the debris. Make sure you don\'t just create more debris, though.

2. Salvage vehicle. Get the 'Damned Robotics' mod, build a rocket with grabbing equipment, then grab the debris and either fling it to the ground or just take it down with you.

3. Warship. Build a military vehicle with Railguns, Missiles or Lasers (Lasers are too easy, though!) and shoot the debris.

4. LAZOR. Get the LAZOR system and set the debris to Seld-Destruct.

[stargazer2041]

Just out of curiosity; is English your first language?

Anyways: To get back to your sattelite, start another launch, but instead of actually launching press 'm' and double-klick on the Sattelite debris. To make it show up as something other than debris, keep a command pod attached to the sattelite. To get rid of debris, either use the launch-m-doubleclick method, then press Escape and End the flight, or find a way of destroying it.

Ways of destroying debris:

1. Kill vehicle. Make a rocket and fly it straight into the debris. Make sure you don\'t just create more debris, though.

2. Salvage vehicle. Get the 'Damned Robotics' mod, build a rocket with grabbing equipment, then grab the debris and either fling it to the ground or just take it down with you.

3. Warship. Build a military vehicle with Railguns, Missiles or Lasers (Lasers are too easy, though!) and shoot the debris.

4. LAZOR. Get the LAZOR system and set the debris to Seld-Destruct.

Hey mockingking, thank you for your response and your suggestions. I managed to get my satellite i orbit while being able to it go back to it and without it being labeled as debris. Like you stated i kept a command pod on it, so i left the mechjeb on it since its robotic and doesn\'t have the kerbals left floating around and this worked. i couldn\'t how ever, do anything with the spent rocket engine drifting in orbit not to far behind. this is where the rest of your other suggestions come in. I\'m going to get this Damned Robotics your talking about and LAZOR. Is there a pack where i can build these military weapons your talking about? And i think it will be kinda tough to shoot down or rendezvous with the debris because they are moving at about 2000+ms.

And yes English is my first language. i some times type fast in forums and always grammatically correct. I,m sorry if it bothers you. I don\'t see why it matters. Good Day Sir

[mockingking]

Because I\'m a professional grammar Nazi (seriously > ).

The Railgun, Modular Missiles, SUNBEAM Laser and LAZOR are all in different mods. Use the search function to find them.

Anyways, if you aren\'t much of an orbital specialist, then you could just get yourself used to the LAZOR mod. It\'s more difficult to attach all the parts correctly than it is with the guns, missiles and SUNBEAM lasers, but it has practically infinite range and doesn\'t even need to be aimed. The biggest risk with the LAZOR is actually just accidentally targeting the wrong object, and blowing up something important. It\'s really almost like a cheat.

Or you might fiddle around with MechJeb until you DO manage to get within 2 kilometers; then just use the SUNBEAM laser to overheat the debris. Or be a Hero Of The Kerbal Union and use guns and missiles. (Don\'t know how hit anything accurately, still working on that myself). In any case, it should be possible to use MechJeb to get into an orbit *almost* like the one the debris is on, then just orbit and orbit until your Hunter-Killer ship and the debris come close, then use MechJeb to go up or down to the debris orbit and do the deed.

Or just do it the easy way and set debris to 0 in the settings menu.