Cargo Spaceplanes!

[ralanboyle]

Cargo Spaceplanes!

How much mass can you deliver to orbit using a Single Stage Spaceplane? 

The Rules:

Your craft must take off and land on the KSC runways. 

It must return as a reusable spaceplane, which means it can't leave stages/droptanks/etc behind. 

Ablative heat shields, and SRBs are considered reusable resources and are acceptable as long as they remain attached.

Use of fairings is also acceptable.  

You must deploy your payload in orbit. 

Scoring: 

Your score is equal to your payload mass delivered to orbit. 

Get a shot of the payload in the VAB, showing its mass. 

Show it being unloaded in orbit, and show your bird back at KSC. 

There will be grace for those who aren't great at landing. Go ahead and submit even if you miss the runway or break a part. 

 

For those new to HTOL SSTOs, I've done a baseline run with a 1T payload in order to show the basic process.  

 

[Aeolica]

I have built a cargo spaceplane of LKO payload>50t.  "Ilyushin IL-236". It was shown in the Weekly Challenge #30

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1qc411r7pQ/    49.76t cargo + 4.55t rest fuel

But I think reusable rockets are easier to operate than VTHL than Spaceplane.

Edited January 24, 2024 by Aeolica

[SolarAdmiral]

I've mostly been building passenger spaceplanes so far. But I do have this I can share, the low tech "cargo"  "SSTO"  I built for my spaceplanes only playthrough of science/explore.

It uses Swivels and Wheesleys, so only needs "Mun Landing" and "Light Aviation" to build the plane. 205 science total I think. It's so low tech, it was the first vehicle in the playthrough I took into space or orbit. Though the payload shown here was a later one, a Duna/Ike /Eve Flyby Probe, and also needs "Long Range Probes" and "Environmental Science".

It can take a 2.8 ton payload to orbit. The plane itself has a 63.8 ton wet mass.

https://imgur.com/gallery/QLEJPms

[ralanboyle]

1 hour ago, Aeolica said:

I have built a cargo spaceplane of LKO payload>50t.

That's a pretty epic plane! I'll have to try a big plane, though I have had problems with the large landing gear being glitched.  

54 minutes ago, SolarAdmiral said:

I do have this I can share, the low tech "cargo"  "SSTO"

Cool plane, let's see it fly! 

[SolarAdmiral]

4 minutes ago, ralanboyle said:

Cool plane, let's see it fly! 

Imgur gallery link has all the photos.

[ralanboyle]

15 minutes ago, SolarAdmiral said:

Imgur gallery link has all the photos.

Ahh, my bad. 

[ralanboyle]

Alright, I got my bird up to 90Ts of payload. That's about as big as I can go in Mid Landing gear and the bigger ones keep glitching. I am happy that it is controllable all the way down instead of spinning on reentry. 

 

[Aeolica]

I set the record to 120t. Tu-256 “Weevil” with an XL cargobay. 
It should be my top-level spaceplane. My laptop can't drive more engines.

 

120t cargo

120t Cargo+7.25t fuel

A crash landing in a hilly area. 

Edited January 28, 2024 by Aeolica

[ralanboyle]

Hey @Aeolica, That's a great looking plane. I love the radial engine design, I'll have to try that on one of my own. Unfortunately, crash landing in the hills disqualifies the flight from this challenge. Keep flying, and if you can get it back to KSC in reusable condition, It'll take the current top spot.