Can you easily reuse ships in the game?

[johnnyhandsome]

Ok, I've built a lander system that works well, but it order to attached it to different vehicles, I have to either rebuild it over and over and remember to resave it and build the new ship around it. Is there any way to import ship into another file you've started?

[georgTF]

If you install the Subassembly Saver mod, you can "pickup" a collection of parts and save it. Later you can attach it to another vehicle.

It is important to know that the part you pickup will be the part that needs to attach to something later on. It's a good idea to build part collections with this in mind. An often used lifter vehicle would be a great thing to save and is exactly what you're looking for. Satellites or rovers can also be saved this way. So the anwser is yes but there will be some limitations to work around, usually minor.

A known issue with Subassembly Saver is that it sometimes un-links struts and fuel lines, so check those by hand.

Even if you hate/refuse mods, get this. It's just too usefull and doesn't cheat in any way.

[Sorcie]

Payloader = Outside of KSP. Merges two .craft files into one when prepared properly.

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/payloader/

Subassembly = Integrates with KSP and merges saved portions.

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/subassembly-saver-loader/

Tried both. Payloader all the way for me.

So I have a whole lifter lineup and can have a new launch from payload/lift combos in minutes.

But yeah without these mods its very difficult to efficiently build a 'space program' where it's easy to reuse ships.