Cargo ssto help

[Vaderthegamer]

Hey guys. I am thinking about building some bases and the most efficient trasport of parts and cargo is a cargo ssto. I've tryed to make one but it had a ton of problems  (was too heavy, lift problems etc.) So I turn to the forum for help. Can you help build me (or have me build, whatever you want) a cargo ssto. I have a few requirements: 1. Must have a opening back so when I land I can unload/load cargo 2. Must carry a good amount of cargo (a couple of rovers, some supplies, base stuff etc.) 3. Must use both rocket and jet engines (for both space and planets with atmosphere and without). Let me know about what you made or how i can make it

[Jarin]

A little more info needed. Just to make certain people happy, I am stating for the record that we have the assumption of "SSTO" in this case being a spaceplane-style craft (correct this if you wish).

1. Since you're wanting to transport rovers, are you planning on refueling in orbit before going elsewhere, or are you actually asking for a SSTMun or SSTDuna?

2. If efficiency is your concern, have you considered that an SSTO is typically far less efficient once out of the atmosphere compared to a craft designed to go interplanetary? The atmospheric-flight parts are dead weight once you're in space.

3. It almost sounds like you're looking for a SSTAnywhere, which requires onboard fuel processing; is that what you're after? Note that this is significantly more difficult.

[Foxster]

Would also be good to know what your max payload is. 

[Vaderthegamer]

20 minutes ago, Jarin said:

A little more info needed. Just to make certain people happy, I am stating for the record that we have the assumption of "SSTO" in this case being a spaceplane-style craft (correct this if you wish).

1. Since you're wanting to transport rovers, are you planning on refueling in orbit before going elsewhere, or are you actually asking for a SSTMun or SSTDuna?

2. If efficiency is your concern, have you considered that an SSTO is typically far less efficient once out of the atmosphere compared to a craft designed to go interplanetary? The atmospheric-flight parts are dead weight once you're in space.

3. It almost sounds like you're looking for a SSTAnywhere, which requires onboard fuel processing; is that what you're after? Note that this is significantly more difficult.

1. I think my first base will be on the mun (and will probably have to build a new cargo ship for duna when i get to that) so SSTMun please.

2. I ment by not having to rebuild the whole bloody thing again every time. That's my kind of efficiency.

3. SSTAnywhere is a thing?

[Vaderthegamer]

7 minutes ago, Foxster said:

Would also be good to know what your max payload is. 

I'm not shure. Mayby 25 to be 30 tons for now max payload

[Jarin]

10 minutes ago, Vaderthegamer said:

3. SSTAnywhere is a thing?

If your SSTO has drills and ISRU onboard and can reach Minmus on its own, it can go anywhere in the system - barring EVE and Tylo surface returns. But that's not easy, especially if you want cargo too. Most ships that do it either carry nothing but the ISRU and a bit of science, or are just incredibly large/overbuilt to compensate for the ISRU weight.

[Vaderthegamer]

13 minutes ago, Jarin said:

If your SSTO has drills and ISRU onboard and can reach Minmus on its own, it can go anywhere in the system - barring EVE and Tylo surface returns. But that's not easy, especially if you want cargo too. Most ships that do it either carry nothing but the ISRU and a bit of science, or are just incredibly large/overbuilt to compensate for the ISRU weight.

Cool, ill stick to duna, minmus and the mun for now though

[Plusck]

Well... this is a design based on something that I shamelessly ripped off from @GoSlash27 in this thread:

 

Spoiler

On my first try I got it to orbit with 1850 m/s still in its tanks. And I forgot to retract the landing gear (lol). So it can definitely get to Minmus. It has full ISRU onboard (full sized drill and converter, two small radial ore tanks). Its only power is a NUK radioisotope thing, so it'll be a touch slow, but it can definitely get to Minmus, land and refuel at maximum efficiency.

The wings are also attached to the cargo bay, which introduces a slight roll instability (dunno why that happens with wings attached to cargo bays, but it does), but it's not too bad.

So I guess it is an SSTAnywhere.

[Vaderthegamer]

7 minutes ago, Plusck said:

Well... this is a design based on something that I shamelessly ripped off from @GoSlash27 in this thread:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

On my first try I got it to orbit with 1850 m/s still in its tanks. And I forgot to retract the landing gear (lol). So it can definitely get to Minmus. It has full ISRU onboard (full sized drill and converter, two small radial ore tanks). Its only power is a NUK radioisotope thing, so it'll be a touch slow, but it can definitely get to Minmus, land and refuel at maximum efficiency.

The wings are also attached to the cargo bay, which introduces a slight roll instability (dunno why that happens with wings attached to cargo bays, but it does), but it's not too bad.

So I guess it is an SSTAnywhere.

I like it. How can i has it? 

[Plusck]

Just now, Vaderthegamer said:

I like it. How can i has it? 

You can has it by reading linked thread, finding my link to craft file, removing nose, adding NUK to nose (not on node) and offsetting it backwards, adding shielded docking port, removing engine group by grabbing precooler, removing wings by grabbing rearmost delta wing, replacing passenger module with large cargo bay (rotated down), putting ISRU+drill+radial ore tanks in cargo bay, re-attaching engines (rotated to match cargo bay), reattaching wings (rotated to match cargo bay), then offsetting engines and wings with snap OFF until CoM/CoL match.

Ah. Who am I trying to kid? Here it is

[AeroGav]

I don't have much experience building very large craft so can't help you if a pure low orbit tug is what you're after.   I built a vessel in orbit once and swore "never again".   The endless docking and rendezvous manoeuvres were so tedious.   

I do have this mk2 freighter.  If your payload is relatively heavy, eg. a fully fuelled mk1 probe which is the full length of the cargo bay,  it can put it in orbit.   If it's a light payload, eg. an In Situ Resource mining setup with the small drill and converter, it can go direct to Minmus.

https://kerbalx.com/AeroGav/PENTA-STAR-REDUX

 

 

 

It can land horizontally on Duna at safe speeds thanks to it's large wing area ,  and land horizontally on low grav airless moons thanks to the vernier lift engines in the belly.  The CG is right in the middle of the two cargo bays so it shouldn't suffer handling problems after unloading cargo,  likewise I distributed the fuel tanks fore and aft so there is no change as the fuel burns off.  

It was designed under the 1.2 prerelease.  This goes live on Oct 11th, but if you are still on old version of KSP it will need a fuel balancer mod (Eg. GPOSpeedFuelPump,  or TacFuelBalancer) to work.

Disclaimer - it's not a pure SSTO.    It uses two disposable Whiplash engines as boosters up to Mach 4 or so , because they are quite cheap (cost only 2000) but keeps the V expensive NERVs (cost 16,000 each) and Rapier (cost 6000 each).   It doesn't need those boosters for Laythe, thanks to the lower gravity, and could still reach space from Kerbin without them but payload and delta V would be severely reduced.

However if you want 2.5m parts like the Science Lab the only thing I have for you is my Kolumbia STS, which I'm just finishing off.

Edited October 6, 2016 by AeroGav