Very simple SSTO - orbital stick

[diegzumillo]

I was quite surprised when this thing achieved orbit! much easier to maneuver than all my plane SSTOs and all my other VTOL SSTOs, much lighter too! I'm working now on one with ion engines to increase its reach a little

There's a small detail, however. Even though it has a decent amount of fuel left when in orbit, it's not sufficient for a good landing (I haven't even added landing struts) but it's so light that parachutes should be able to keep it from merging with the ground.

I feel like I'm getting nearer to an single stage to mun rocket!

[wingnut]

Haha, what an ugly vehicle.

Congratulations for getting it into orbit. My SSTO attempts usually fail

[shand]

you could probably do with less of the small rockets!

you dont need a particularly high TWR if you do it right. use the jets to get out of the atmosphere (ballistic curve and all that) and use the rockets literally just for cirularisation - and any further missions.

if you are feeling extra brave, just jets and ion drive. dont know if thats possible:)

[Rune]

you could probably do with less of the small rockets!

you dont need a particularly high TWR if you do it right. use the jets to get out of the atmosphere (ballistic curve and all that) and use the rockets literally just for cirularisation - and any further missions.

if you are feeling extra brave, just jets and ion drive. dont know if thats possible:)

It is certainly possible with a lot of airhogging, check the "Wedge" SSTO on my thread. Not that I have been the first person to do that by a long shot, I seem to remember a thread pre-crash about going to Laythe and back without oxidizer, or staging.

[diegzumillo]

Indeed. For the new iteration I removed an entire row of those rockets.

I understand it's possible to make jets and ion engines alone, just keep gaining speed at the highest altitude possible with jets. It's kinda silly, but the atmosphere is so scarce that you can open up all solar panels without breaking and activate the ion engines, all still running the jets on low power.

But I hate ion engines! I just managed to upgrade the flying stick to include ion engines and it's a nightmare getting anywhere, so I'm dropping ion engines from future plans

[dudester28]

I just recreated the orbital stick (excluding 8 unnecessary engines) and managed to get it into LKO on my first try. A nice and simple design.

[diegzumillo]

lol

If you improve the SSTO (single stick to orbit) share it with us

[PIRATEONTHERUN]

I love the name, let alone the ingenuity! Keep it up!