Can you help me name a new family of rockets?

[Chequers]

I'm deep into the planning of a first Kerballed mission to land on another planet — which will be Duna. The contract calls for the addition of a docking manoeuvre in orbit of the red planet, which adds another layer of complexity. 

Having reviewed the ageing Chequers Aerospace fleet, it's increasingly apparent that the faithful workhorse rockets in the current 'Exodus' family, that launched a raft of interplanetary probes and flybys, simply isn't up to the mission.

Chequers Associated Systems (CAS), along with the substantial cash injection from the World-Firsts-Record-Keeping-Society, have enabled the commission of a new family of rockets, that not only enable us to make use of the latest advancements in technology, but will be able to satisfy the needs of Chequers Aerospace now, and into the future.

These new rockets will expand our capability, to put Kerbal boots on Duna and Ike, conduct scientific missions to far-flung moons, and enable us to develop the infrastructure for even more ambitious missions.

But this new family of rocket needs a name. Nigel from the marketing department came up with the clever (and responsibility-shirking) idea to put it out to the KSP community.

Can you help?

[Starhelperdude]

Astalgus, Phyton and Adder are names that I use

[RealKerbal3x]

@Chequers Maybe name it after a bird, those names tend to work well.

Failing that, just give it a cool-sounding alphanumeric designation, like SHLV-2 or something.

[KSC Internal Affairs]

I generally name my rockets with generic names. I have names like "Science Orbital Station I" or "Mark I - Mark XI".  Many times I just name it something that sounds technical and such.  Sometimes I use something that sounds good as an acronym. Those are just some ideas for inspiration.

[HvP]

There's a great source of naming lists here: https://namingschemes.com/Main_Page

Since you're going to Duna, which is the Mars analog, I would try variations on Martian ideas.

Burroughs, Barsoom, Ares, Bradbury, Aelita, Vulthoom, Heinlein, Valentine, Vonnegut, Mariner, Viking, Weir, Watney, Wells...

Edited October 28, 2020 by HvP

[Chequers]

Great suggestions! Thanks.

1 hour ago, HvP said:

There's a great source of naming lists here: https://namingschemes.com/Main_Page

Thanks for the link - there's loads here to think about. And also thanks for the inspiration around the Mars idea. 

[jimmymcgoochie]

I use a variation on Rainbow Codes to name my launch rockets- a colour then a random noun, with the colour depending on the size of the first stage. Examples include Red Apple, Green Book and Blue River. Sometimes I add numerical designations to denote the size of the stages and any extra boosters, etc. as well.

[GuessingEveryDay]

I know I'm definitely stealing some of those ideas. 

For career or science, I'll name my first rocket "One One" and then change the second number. When I get Liquid-fueled rockets, I'll change it to "Two number". It works. Especially when you always have a new rocket design every time you get new parts. For stations, they'll be "Station One", "Station Two" and once I establish stations around the moon, "Mun Station One" and so on.

[steuben]

1. Binky

2. DoB (_D_una _o_r _B_ust)

3. DLS (Duna Lifter Series)

4. Steve

[jimmymcgoochie]

20 minutes ago, steuben said:

4. Steve

My first Duna lander was called Dave- Duna Ascent VEssel. It's one of those "come up with half a name, think of an acronym that would fit the name, find a way to shoehorn the name into the acronym" situations, like my second Duna lander called DDOS (Duna Descent/Orbit Ship).

Most of my ships etc. are just called 'Mun Station One' or suchlike, or if they get iterated on they might get a Mk-X designation e.g. 'Station transfer pod Mk5'.

[KSC Internal Affairs]

On 10/28/2020 at 10:43 AM, steuben said:

1. Binky

2. DoB (_D_una _o_r _B_ust)

3. DLS (Duna Lifter Series)

4. Steve

I see you are a Kerbalnaut of culture as well!

[DerkyJerkyWreaksHavoc]

@Chequers why don't you start the "Neptune" rocket family. i have the Neptune rocket family as the size 3 rockets that boost heavy payloads. i think you should really consider this name. 

Sincerely, DAFATRONALDO2007 IN SPACE 

for example: The Neptune I, Neptune II, Neptune III, Neptune IV, Neptune V, and so on.

Edited October 29, 2020 by DAFATRONALDO2007 IN SPACE

[Mikenike]

On 10/27/2020 at 4:13 AM, Chequers said:

I'm deep into the planning of a first Kerballed mission to land on another planet — which will be Duna. The contract calls for the addition of a docking manoeuvre in orbit of the red planet, which adds another layer of complexity. 

Having reviewed the ageing Chequers Aerospace fleet, it's increasingly apparent that the faithful workhorse rockets in the current 'Exodus' family, that launched a raft of interplanetary probes and flybys, simply isn't up to the mission.

Chequers Associated Systems (CAS), along with the substantial cash injection from the World-Firsts-Record-Keeping-Society, have enabled the commission of a new family of rockets, that not only enable us to make use of the latest advancements in technology, but will be able to satisfy the needs of Chequers Aerospace now, and into the future.

These new rockets will expand our capability, to put Kerbal boots on Duna and Ike, conduct scientific missions to far-flung moons, and enable us to develop the infrastructure for even more ambitious missions.

But this new family of rocket needs a name. Nigel from the marketing department came up with the clever (and responsibility-shirking) idea to put it out to the KSP community.

Can you help?

Flaming Phoenix, Phoenix, Eagle, Screaming Eagle, Flaming Eagle, Screaming Phoenix. My favorite of this list (applies to the red of duna) Red Phoenix.

On 10/28/2020 at 12:43 PM, steuben said:

DoB

Department of Buildings?? In NYC

[Misguided Kerbal]

I have names!

SLV, SLV, SLV, SLV, SLV, SLV

 

Spoiler

Standard Launch Vehicle

 

[Corona688]

Name ships after insects.  You will never run out of insects.

[Maple Kerman]

I would just choose a cool name that works well as a vessel name. I normally use this website.
For my own ships, I make a "family" of vessels with that name using Roman numerals.Each family fulfills a different basic purpose.
Manned spacecraft destined for missions to other moons or planets are simply named after the celestial body itself, while other spacecraft get a unique name.

As an example, I am currently playing through career mode in the stock system, and my vessel names are as follows (the list is somewhat large):

Spoiler

"Alto" Family - Early-game manned rockets:

Alto I (Tiny science collector)
Alto II (First exoatmospheric craft)

"Nexus" Family - Basic manned LKO spacecraft (including rescue- and science-oriented crafts):

Nexus I (Really basic orbital rocket with science)
Nexus I+ (Slightly upgraded version of the Nexus I, didn't warrant a new number)
Nexus II (Two-seater orbital rocket)

"Mun" Family - Manned Mun orbiters and landers:

Mun I (Mun orbiter)
Mun II (Basic two-seater Mun lander)
Mun III (Apollo-style Mun lander)
Mun IV (Minimalist Mun lander)

"Minmus" Family - Manned Minmus orbiters and landers:

Minmus I (Two-seater Minmus orbiter)
Minmus II (Two-seater Minmus lander)
Minmus III (Advanced Minmus lander)

"Luno" Family - Unmanned Mun satellites and lander probes:

Luno I (Mun relay)
Luno II (Resource scanning satellite for polar orbits)
Luno III (Mun probe lander)

"Opal" Family - Unmanned Minmus satellites and lander probes:

Opal I (Minmus relay)
Opal II (Minmus probe lander)

"Duna" Family - Manned Duna/Ike orbiters and landers:

Duna I (Science mission)
Duna II (Duna lander)

Space Stations have their own unique names:

LKO Station: Aurora (Refuelling station)
Mun Station: Vespir (A sort of "gateway" for spacecraft going to and from the Mun)

Those are all the spacecraft I currently have.

Hopefully, that gives you an idea of how I would name ships.

[T-20000]

Vulcan

[eatU4myT]

I tend to work on the "ships are always she, so they should have girl's names" basis.  So, all my Mun vessels are Monica I, II etc., then Minmus vessels were Mindy, and then Donna, Evelyn, Juliet etc.

If I have a one-off ship that is going to be around for a long time, it often gets a specific name, and they tend to be from Norse mythology as often as not.  So, my primary comms relay in HKO is Hermóðr, my two relays around Mun are Hjúki and Bil, my orbital ferry/tug is Sleipnir and so forth.

 

[JaviAvali]

I usually come up with a technical name, like MLV-1 (manned launch vehicle 1) then give it a name that I think fits it after, like "Focus" if it's going to be something that is the focus of a series of missions or plans.  MLV-1 "Focus"

[Singhnaut]

gladiator or trident

[Popestar]

In my Caveman Challenge career, I'm going to use 80s arcade characters for my rockets and stations.

"Space Station Wonderboy, this is ground control.  Do you copy?"

[adsii1970]

This is a good question and one which required a little thought. May I introduce a tool that could possibly help you to be able to come up with a name for nearly anything?

https://www.wordgenerator.net/fake-word-generator.php

Enjoy!

[Beriev]

Based on the name "Chequers", I immediately thought of a checkerboard and subsequently, chess. I propose naming your new launchers after chess pieces, such as "Pawn", "King", or "Bishop".

Another idea could be my current career's naming scheme of army ranks for each series of rockets (aka each major tech relating to launch hardware), with the first generation being the "Corporal" series (early solids), and my current series being the "Captain" series (Mainsail, Thoroughbred, and Twin Boar).

Edited December 9, 2020 by Beriev