Because Size Does Matter - Mammoth SHLV (180 tons)

[PolecatEZ]

Not many bells and whistles here, just pure liftiness.

The Kerbalife Mammoth SHLV will put 180 tons into LKO easily and is rock-solid to boot. Part count clocks in ~400 or so, but most of that is redundant struts and my laptop handles it just fine on launch tests.

Basic instructions -

- Group 0 (zero) toggles the gimbles on the outer stages. Tap twice after launch for a smoother ride.

- Start your gravity turn after the second stage.

- RCS is there to help you make your circ burn on time. 180 tons is a lot to turn on just cockpit gyros. You can also use it a bit if you see you're having any trouble with your gravity turn, though I didn't see it did much there. Plenty of mono fuel for both.

You have about 400 dV worth of wiggle room for manual launches. I've tested with 180 tons at both 75km and 100km, and 190 tons at 80km. Complies with the Clean Space Act regulations, you should have another 400 dV left for a de-orbit burn after dropping your load, just get it done before the batteries run out.

Enjoy. Mammoth SHLV

Subassembly and Payloader ready.

Mechjeb launch stats - set max altitude at 75 to 100 km, start gravity turn at 12, end at 69, 40 percent curve. You can tweak to taste, but don't set the turn to start before 9000, as the second stage needs to come off before that.

[Ryu Gemini]

That... is quite lifty indeed.

No bells and whistles isn't always a bad thing though. I mean, put too many bells and whistles on and you will get stuck with a ship that slows down your computer that much more.

[Sorcie]

Awesome! I'll definitely be checking that out in depth. I'm working on my 150 right now. Thanks!