Keep ASAS running on decoupled/undocked section

[spearsp]

I'm trying to design a reusable turbine-powered launch vehicle, primarily for getting large volumes of fuel into orbit. The idea is to build a simple rocket with sufficient power and extra fuel to get from 20,000m at 1000+ m/s into orbit, and to carry said rocket up to that altitude and speed, strapped to the belly of a space plane. I'm very excited about the pending B9 R3 release, because I might be able to use the large cargo bays for this.

So far, I've managed to get the whole assembly to altitude and speed, after much tweaking (and reinforcements and a senseless number of wheels). I start by building the rocket, and then build the space plane around it, using an unmanned MechJeb pod to control the spaceplane.

However, after decoupling, both the rocket and the plane become high maintenance. The rocket needs to be steered upwards into orbit, and the space plane needs to be levelled and have it's ASAS turned on, and I can only fly one at a time. I have successfully transferred focus to the space plane and steered it back towards KSP, and I have also successfully got nearly 10,000 liters of fuel into orbit. But not both. Is there some way to keep the ASAS unit on the space plane active after decoupling, so I can get the rocket into orbit without the plane crashing in the meantime? Perhaps some way of getting two docked vehicles to remain independent while they're docked?

While I'm putting this out there, I'm also not having any joy having more than one docking port set as an active target at a time. Since the rocket is so heavy, it needs more than one (haven't tried the new big one in .20, truth be told). Is there a trick to activating more than one docking port at a time? I'm currently using a radial manifold decoupler, but I think docking ports would add to the re-usability factor of the assembly.

[GJames]

Once a vehicle is more than 2.5km away it get's unloaded and just becomes a set of data points, but there is a mod that increases the loading range that might keep ASAS on, but I cannot remember it of the top of my head. I think Scott Manley mentions it a few times though... And no, I don't think you can target more than one thing at once.

[codiak]

The Lazor Mods by Romfarer (Lazor Cocking Cam for example) can extend the loading distance. But it also makes all things more laggy...

[spearsp]

I think I'm going to add this to my wish list. Being able to keep two active vehicles in memory might be a nice idea, particularly if the concept of reusable launch vehicles takes off. SSTO is not practical for the application, since getting 20,000 litres of fuel into orbit takes an awful lot of launch vehicle that I'd rather not have to take with me, and multi-staged launch is just wasteful. Thanks for your feedback.