Conservation of fuel for sstos and rockets gong into orbit

[Kalzzz]

I am looking for tips on fuel conservation. Thank you for your answers.

[peadar1987]

1 hour ago, Kalzzz said:

I am looking for tips on fuel conservation. Thank you for your answers.

#1 fuel saving tip: Use staging

[shynung]

1 hour ago, Kalzzz said:

I am looking for tips on fuel conservation. Thank you for your answers.

#2 fuel saving tip: use engines with higher ISP.

[Bill Phil]

#3: Use anything but an SSTO.

But if you insist (and if this is KSP related), use jet engines for as much of the ascent as practical.

[SchweinAero]

#4: Remember that "SSTO", "rocket" and "spaceplane" can occur in any of seven combinations. Need to save mass? Cut off those wings and land vertically.

[James M]

Fuel flow from outer tanks in then shed. Yeah it's the basis of asparagus staging but it can be used in a lot of different ways. Just keep that mindset and you'll go really far. (Also don't be afraid to use SRBs. They have ridiculous efficiency)

[monstah]

Thread moved to Gameplay Questions and Tutorials.

Carry on

[Aegolius13]

One thing to keep in mind is that you can start using "vacuum" engines like the Terrier and Poodle long before you hit space.  By 20km altitude or so these should be near their maximum ISP, and much higher than the launch- oriented engines.

[swjr-swis]

On 12/24/2016 at 5:52 PM, Kalzzz said:

I am looking for tips on fuel conservation.

Tsiolkovsky say: maximum fuel conservation achieved by not going to space.

(but if you insist on going to space, build small and light)

[foamyesque]

Assuming you're referring to a SSTO spaceplane:

 

1. Counterintuitively, higher thrusts allow you to carry a larger percentage of your starting mass to space. This is because you can get going faster on the high Isp airbreathing modes, in less time, which means you need a lot less fuel to make the jump to orbit.

2. Drag is murder on plane performance. Get rid of as much of it as possible.

3. Remember that SSTO is just SSTO. Feel free to eject or stage away payloads once you're up there and let them do their own thing. This will both boost your dV for getting back out of orbit and make a gliding landing easier.

4. Don't carry any more oxidizer than absolutely necessary. It's heavy.