Rockomax "Skipper" Liquid Engine

[IllicitMedic]

Absolutely love this engine. Just used it on the final/transfer/munnar orbit/return stage of a Kerbin to Mun rocket and its efficiency versus power is excellent IMO.

Just thought I'd post my thoughts lol.

[Canopus]

I too like it very much. Its a very useful engine.

[Francesco]

yeah it's quite good, it was a long time coming.

with a TWR of 16.56, it's on par with the LV-T30, although it has a lower ISP.

I was hoping we would also get the Rockomax 48-7S, its smaller, smaller cousin. maybe 0.20.1?

[SalmonellaDingDong]

It's the same as the Atlas, unfortunately.

[Canopus]

It's the same as the Atlas, unfortunately.

Unfortunately?

[Krizzen]

Yes, the Atlas... *ahem* Skipper, is awesome because it has better ISP than the Mainsail and a respectable TWR. I get the most out of it when replacing a few mainsails my first stages where mainsails just put out way too much thrust and must be throttled back.

[samstarman5]

At first I thought they reskinned the Rockomax Mainsail when I saw the Skipper. Then I saw the stats and just felt the excitement. I built a rocket I typically used Mainsails on with Skippers instead. Had to go to full thrust to leave the pad but after that it was easy as pie to achieve orbit with a chug of fuel left in the second stage. These suckers got awesome potential.

[erkha343]

I don't understand why they didn't implement the 3m Nerva. Skipper is awesome

[StainX]

The whole KSPX Pack should have been implemented, in my opinion!

[Artophwar]

The whole KSPX Pack should have been implemented, in my opinion!

Ya I was surprised they only added a few of the parts, now I have to delete the redundant parts from the pack. Only a slight annoyance. All the other pieces fit well with the game and fill niches and I feel they should have been implemented.

[IllicitMedic]

Good to see everyone else is enjoying this engine as much as I am lol. Its already my most used engine.

[HoY]

Can someone post a screenshot or at least list the stats for those of us at work!! Pretty please

I'd love to see a list of all the new parts, because the release notes only show 7??? And just what they are not details

[Tw1]

It is the Atlas then? I hope it will take the place of the atas in craft files.

[Tada]

I kinda like that engine too, it is well suited for radial booster stages - Mainsail is unnescessary strong for these

[Francesco]

Can someone post a screenshot or at least list the stats for those of us at work!! Pretty please

I'd love to see a list of all the new parts, because the release notes only show 7??? And just what they are not details

Rockomax "Skipper": 650 kN, 4 tons, 300-350 ISP

[Rage097]

I really like this engine. It replaces the need to put five smaller engines on the bottom of the rokomax tanks.

[HoY]

Ohhhh that's the Atlas, Okay

I've been using kspx and have never had a need for that engine specifically loads have always been either too heavy or too light. Tried using it in a cluster but 4 45's ended up winning the fight *shrug*

[IllicitMedic]

What is nice is that a single Skipper with Orange tank/2 SRB's as the first stage can take my 75 ton satellite launch vehicle (Still no name) up the first 45k all by itself without overheating at full power.

This is one of my best designs so far, it can easily place satellites in Geosync orbit with enough fuel to deorbit the launch vehicle.

[bsalis]

Yep. It's neat. There was a big gap, and this now fills it.

First thing i did was try it out, with a flag and a seat (not visible)...

[Francesco]

here's an interesting thing:

given a thrust of 650 kN, a TWR of 1.6-1.7 is obtained with a weight of ~40 tons;

a Jumbo fuel tank weights 36 tons, the Atlas - ahem, the Skipper itself weights 4.

put the two together, result: TWR = 1.65.

it makes for a nice and simple booster for medium-to-heavy launch vehicles.

[rhoark]

I'd like something halfway between the atlas and mainsail.

[lazarus1024]

I'd prefer the 2.5m NERVA and a something in between the poodle 1.5m rocket and the LTV-303. Also maybe something a bit more powerful than the LTV-303 in 1.5m size. Say a 1t, 100 thrust engine in 1.5m size as well as maybe a 2t, 275 or 300 thrust engine.

Lastly, I'd like to see 2.5m structual parts to mount 1.5m clusters as stock (at least a bi, tri and quad coupler).

[Eric S]

I'd like something halfway between the atlas and mainsail.

It would be nice, I was experimenting last night and was stuck with either having to throttle down a mainsail or have a less efficient lift because of inadequate TWR.

[lazarus1024]

I think the use case for the Atlas, as I've found it anyway, is to use it as an upper stage engine for 2.5m designs. Then TWR is much less of an issue, but the reduced weight is important.

Weight and Isp is less important the further down the staging you go, but TWR is much more important. Part of the reason almost all liquid rockets use kerosene as their primary fuel and not hydrogen for the first stage.

Reduced weight and greater Isp in exchange for lower TWR is just fine for an upper stage.

[POTKC]

Yep. It's neat. There was a big gap, and this now fills it.

First thing i did was try it out, with a flag and a seat (not visible)...

That image gave me an idea...rocket garden! Like at the real KSC!!! (Kennedy, not Kerbal)