Looking for a way to auto-recover a space plane from orbit

[g00bd0g]

I have some awesome space planes that can haul tons of stuff to orbit. I'd like to use them as the backbone of my fleet, but flying the return to KSC is getting tedious. I can do it perfectly 100% of the time, I would just like to not have to waste 20-30 minutes of my life for every launch recovery.

Edited October 23, 2015 by g00bd0g

[Retread]

Hyperedit it to the runway and recover it. No functional difference to using some kind of auto-pilot functionality.

[DancesWithSquirrels]

This is why I build VTOL SSTO rockets; landing is much faster - target, reenter, chute, retro to reasonable speed, and yer done. I love flying stuff, but spaceplanes take 4-5x as long to land, and I'm already spending too much time with KSP.

[Alshain]

Stage Recovery will do this for you. All you have to do is de-orbit it and then change focus so it falls out of physics range. Stage Recovery will assume with engine and fuel that it can land and refund the ship cost (minus fuel) and crew.

It does other simulations as well, like heat, so you need to de-orbit it as if you were going to land it manually.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Alshain

[The_Rocketeer]

Options options...

Design a way to interlock several spaceplanes and return them as one flight.

Plan your missions to require fewer ascents in the first place - launch permanent exploration crafts and set up mining/refining systems so you're less dependent on the KSC/LKO ascents.

Get into the role - each of your Kerbo-pilots has a career and a personal experience of space exploration, and at the end of the mission they want to go home! Landing each of them safely is the full stop at the end of the sentence at the end of the chapter. It doesn't change the amount of effort, but it can make it more enjoyable!

HyperEdit as a last resort. It is cheating, but any immediate solution to what you're asking will be cheating. If you're comfortable with that, that's fine, and there really isn't a better solution.

[manaiaK]

An alternative to using a "magic recovery" mod is to install kOS and write your own code to do it automatically. To me, this is in between doing it all manually and just installing a mod. It's kind of "I did it myself" while saving you time in the long run.

[g00bd0g]

Duh, hyperedit for the win! I don't care if others consider it "cheaty", I've landed these spaceplanes 100's of times, I can do it in my sleep, I have nothing to prove to myself or anyone else by landing them manually over and over.

[Foxster]

I have some awesome space planes that can haul tons of stuff to orbit. I'd like to use them as the backbone of my fleet, but flying the return to KSC is getting tedious. I can do it perfectly 100% of the time, I would just like to not have to waste 20-30 minutes of my life for every launch recovery.

Wasteful I know, but I'd just give them a quick de-orbit burn and wave them goodbye.