Catalyst - Light SSTO

[Cupcake...]

CRAFT FILE(s):

https://goo.gl/3HG5fM

 

UPDATES:

18/10/16 - Control surface values maxed out for better atmospheric handling.

 

After a rather protracted development period it's my great pleasure to finally present the release version of the Catalyst; a plucky, light weight SSTO that proves you don't go have to go big to go far.

With the advent of  ISRU's and on planet refueling I would argue that there's no need for monstrous heavy SSTO's anymore (no offense @Exothermos),and that a compact, easy to fly, fleet of space planes making use of interplanetary refueling networks is the way to go.

To this end the Catalyst can fly direct to the Mun, Duna and at extreme range Laythe, and return home after topping the tanks up, not bad for a single engine design tipping the scales at 12.5t. It can also fly to Minmus and back without re-fueling while operating as a pure SSTO.

At at stable 80k orbit you'll have around 2.1k of Delta V to play with, rising to a maximum of 2.9k (vacuum only with no liquid fuel reserves).

A newly developed ultralight thermal protection system(tm) makes the craft impervious to all but the most extreme atmospheric heating!

 

CONTROLS:

1 -Toggle Rapier
2- Switch Modes
8 - Toggle Front Landing Gear
0 - Toggle Cockpit Doors/Speed-brake

ABORT -Undock/De-Couple Cargo Port

 

ASCENT GUIDANCE:

Getting this thing is orbit really is effortless, follow these instructions for perfect results every time (joystick recommended). 

 

1 - After the craft loads set full throttle and hit the stage button to warm up the engine while you get yourself organized.

2 - EVA your Kerbal, board the craft, activate SAS and press 0 to close the cockpit doors.

3 - Bring up the engine info by right clicking in the area shown (I'd recommend pinning it too):

4 - Once the thrust maxes out (usually 97.1kn) press F5 to quick save and then launch by hitting the stage button.

5 - Keeping your hands off the controls allow the craft to build up speed and fold the landing gear in as soon as you leave the runway (they produce a ton of drag while deployed).

6 - You can let the craft fly itself for most of the ascent, the nose will gradually pitch up as you build up speed.

7 - At around 1600m/s the craft will stop accelerating, once this happens gently pitch down to just bellow the 10* maker and try and and squeeze some more speed out of the jet.

8 - Once your speed drops to 1600m/s again press 2 to light the rocket engine and hold the craft at a 10* pitch.

9- Once your apoapsis reads 40k set the craft to point pro-grade and continue burning before cutting the engine at an apoapsis of 81k.

10 - Coast clear of the atmosphere then press 0 to open the cockpit doors and allow light to reach the solar panels, turning off the aircraft lights is also recommended.

11- If all's gone to plan you'll have around 2100m/s to play with after circularizing plus a small LF reserve for landing back on Kerbin (or Laythe). Good luck!

 

Cupcake...

 

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2016 by Cupcake...

[Exothermos]

Simplicity at its finest!  Dayum...

[Cupcake...]

9 minutes ago, Exothermos said:

Simplicity at its finest!  Dayum...

Thanks man! Lovely to see you back again BTW.

 

Cupcake...

[Dafni]

Nice one. Looking forward to test it.

Thanks for sharing

[Majorjim!]

Cute craft Cupcake!

 

37 minutes ago, Cupcake... said:

I would argue that there's no need for monstrous heavy SSTO's anymore

Only if you don't want to carry any significant cargo.

 

37 minutes ago, Cupcake... said:

A newly developed ultralight thermal protection system

What happened to the antenna version you where using that I suggested before? Does 1.2 break the use of that part for it? The antenna looked better me thinks.

 

What delivers the little duel refuel thing?

Edited October 17, 2016 by Majorjim!

[Cupcake...]

20 hours ago, Majorjim! said:

Cute craft Cupcake!

 

Only if you don't want to carry any significant cargo.

 

What happened to the antenna version you where using that I suggested before? Does 1.2 break the use of that part for it? The antenna looked better me thinks.

 

What delivers the little duel refuel thing?

I think a Mindy drop-ship will be able to deliver the goods, I'm still working on the design but it'll be easy enough to transport.

The antenna trick no longer works sadly. Here's hoping they don't fix my latest method too! I've also done a wee update and boosted the control surface values to maximum for improved athmo handling. I've updated the craft file but for anyone that downloaded the original just ramp the control values for the rear control surfaces/rudder to the max.

 

Cupcake...

 

 

Edited October 18, 2016 by Cupcake...

[Speed_Kerman]

Greetings Cupcake...

I'm having an issue with the service bay cockpit design and I was wondering if you might be able to help me out, as I am trying a design similar to your Catalyst SSTO

Namely, whenever I'm about to escape the atmosphere, when the ship is experiencing maximum atmospheric drag when I engage closed cycle mode on my Rapier, I have an extremely hard time trying to keep poor Jeb from overheating and exploding in the cockpit.

Have you faced a similar issue? How did you overcome it?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Cupcake...]

5 hours ago, Speed_Kerman said:

Greetings Cupcake...

I'm having an issue with the service bay cockpit design and I was wondering if you might be able to help me out, as I am trying a design similar to your Catalyst SSTO

Namely, whenever I'm about to escape the atmosphere, when the ship is experiencing maximum atmospheric drag when I engage closed cycle mode on my Rapier, I have an extremely hard time trying to keep poor Jeb from overheating and exploding in the cockpit.

Have you faced a similar issue? How did you overcome it?

Any help would be appreciated.

I have experienced the issue, it was a bug in 1.1.3/1.2 Pre Release where Kerbals weren't shielded from drag/heating. It's all fixed in the release version of 1.2 so if you download that you should be fine.  If you are running the latest version try putting the command seat on a cubic strut then mounting it to the service bay.

 

Cupcake...

[Thatguywholikesionengines]

They fixed the occlusion bug? WHOO! *downloads indigo and catalyst*

[Cupcake...]

6 hours ago, Thatguywholikesionengines said:

They fixed the occlusion bug? WHOO! *downloads indigo and catalyst*

Happy days huh? I've still gotta update the Indigo to change the heat shielding but the Catalyst is good to go. There is a rather strange bug where the landing gear is sometimes twisted after quick saving/loading but apart from that the craft is flying like a dream.

 

Cupcake...

[vistaero]

Amazing ship. I always wanted a little SSTO which reachs orbit with a lot of fuel remanining, but It has extreme part clipping. That's not a sort of cheating?

[Cupcake...]

1 hour ago, vistaero said:

Amazing ship. I always wanted a little SSTO which reachs orbit with a lot of fuel remanining, but It has extreme part clipping. That's not a sort of cheating?

I've pushed the engine back into the pre-cooler for looks/balance but apart from that there's not that much clipping going on. There's certainly no clipped fuel tanks or anything like that. Saying that we all have our own definition of "acceptable clipping".

 

Cupcake...

[Aerospike]

Wow Cupcake..., you've done it again!

While that is aesthetically not my favorite, the design language is still very stylish (as always) and specs are just awesome.

[SingABrightSong]

I got quite the jolt when the Catalyst pitched up of its own accord at the end of the runway. Colour me suitably impressed.