The 100% recoverable lifter Megathread

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

In preparation for career mode I've been developing my space program using only fully-recoverable spacecraft, having been inspired by a certain Youtube channel. There are already threads dedicated to SSTOs and spaceplanes, but those aren't the only ways to reuse your ships! If it doesn't leave debris or lose any parts during a normal launch then it's welcome here. Lets see your lineups of recoverable lifters.

These were the workforce of my program, the StarGoose rockets; each is capable of reaching a 100km periapsis with their proofing payload, and each stage is capable of landing in water if required. They are dual-stage-to-orbit, with the first stage launching straight upward and the second closing the orbit or pushing apoapsis far enough away to allow you to land the first one back at KSC before finishing the orbital insertion. After dropping the payload, the orbital stage will have enough dV to deorbit itself and land back on Kerbin. They have a bit of wiggle room for orbital maneuvers, but you may want to under-load them if you want to do some LKO rendezvous and docking procedures. Each stage has parachutes to slow down, but a powered landing from the reserve fuel tanks is advised. The flightplan makes you lose ~900 m/s over a traditional rocket launch, but deliver their payload much faster than spaceplanes. The structural plates can be replaced with procedural fairing bases if that's your thing; they're mostly there to guarantee some landing fuel reserve.

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[table=width: 600, class: outer_border, align: center]

[tr]

[td]StarGoose series[/td]

[td]I[/td]

[td]II[/td]

[td]III[/td]

[td]IV[/td]

[td]V[/td]

[td]VI[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Max Payload[/td]

[td]1.75[/td]

[td]4.25[/td]

[td]7.5[/td]

[td]13[/td]

[td]26[/td]

[td]44[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]payload fraction[/td]

[td]7.61%[/td]

[td]8.25%[/td]

[td]8.34%[/td]

[td]8.23%[/td]

[td]8.27%[/td]

[td]8.49%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Propellant to payload ratio[/td]

[td]8.39[/td]

[td]8.19[/td]

[td]7.93[/td]

[td]8.38[/td]

[td]8.68[/td]

[td]8.39[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]part count[/td]

[td]41[/td]

[td]46[/td]

[td]60[/td]

[td]107[/td]

[td]112[/td]

[td]172[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

Edited August 20, 2013 by ThePsuedoMonkey
Redesigned all rockets

[GusTurbo]

Wow, very cool. Kind of like SpaceX's concept for recoverable stages. Your designs are also aesthetically pleasing.

[catmando]

very nice .. excellent job...

[Silicon014]

Its funny. I was in the process of designing a 55-ton reusable launching platform, fitted with docking nodes for repeated use (Using a helicopter or VTOL to lift the payload on to the top). Suppose you beat me to the concept!

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Thanks, guys They were a nice challenge to design, though I only just recently tried to find their max payloads (they were first used to launch 1,4,6,9,13, and 20 tons respectively). Their payload fraction could probably be increased if a bunch of 'chutes were replaced with fuel, but I'm not sure how much higher it can go as a DSTO.

A reusable 55T launcher would be pretty sweet, Silicon014. The senior docking ports tend to break off a lot with heavier payloads though, so you may need to resort to using multiple docking points for that. Can't wait to see it!

[Silicon014]

And I cant wait to see it finished, my man. I'm actually thinking about a two stage reusable, with both stages able to be reused and recovered, but I don't know how feasible that is.

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Here is a peek at my newest lifters; SSTO spaceplanes that lift payloads to 100km. There's only two for now, but I'll add more as I fix the their quirks. The Iron-class planes have at most two ram intakes and four air scoops per turbojet, RCS attitude control, and spinal-mounted payloads.

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[table=width: 500, class: outer_border, align: center]

[tr]

[td]Iron-class[/td]

[td]Sparrow[/td]

[td]Eagle[/td]

[td]Cardinal[/td]

[td]Buzzard[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Proofing Payload (T)[/td]

[td]2.25[/td]

[td]5.25[/td]

[td]10[/td]

[td]18[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Payload Fraction[/td]

[td]17.8%[/td]

[td]19.8%[/td]

[td]22.5%[/td]

[td]26.9%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Propellant to Payload ratio[/td]

[td]2.40[/td]

[td]1.94[/td]

[td]1.88[/td]

[td]1.60[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Lifter Part Count[/td]

[td]55[/td]

[td]87[/td]

[td]122[/td]

[td]162[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

Edited August 8, 2013 by ThePsuedoMonkey
Complete redesign

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

I've updated the WeissHase rockets for 0.21.1; they now all have plenty of power, (generally) better stats, and look a little better. I love the new 2.5m stack adapters; they make the XL parachutes much more useful due to lower part counts, and it's much easier to make a decent reinforcement cowling with docking ports. I'd recommend using them for that reusable 55T lifter, since they are rock solid on my series VII.

[allmhuran]

SSTO, can lift and deploy a full jumbo fuel tank:

Fuel delivery vessel, Tanks cannot be released but craft can transfer ~1.8 jumbo tanks worth of fuel out and then return:

[M5000]

All I have to do is stick a few parachutes on my current lifter, knock a ton or two off of the suggested payload capacity (or test for higher) and call it reusable and it's fine. That's assuming things don't get deleted in the air when you get out of 2.5Km range.. D:

[Captain Sierra]

Yes, unfortunately, the 2.5km atmospheric deletion is a problem. My current Nova series lifters can have parachutes slapped on and called reusable easy. The solution I have found to the unloading is Ferram Aerospace. It actually redoes that so your stuff won't unload. I still don't know if physics still load on it or not as that can effect whether or not the parachute is usable.

[ArcticX9]

Another thing to get around the 2.5km deletion is romfarer's buran manipulators (though you may require probe parts on things - not sure what it does to debris), the part doesn't even have to be on the vessel.

[Rune]

Another thing to get around the 2.5km deletion is romfarer's buran manipulators (though you may require probe parts on things - not sure what it does to debris), the part doesn't even have to be on the vessel.

Do so at your own risk. If you increase you loading distance, you might find that your overly complicated stations overfly KSC at the worst possible moment, and the kraken lies in wait for those who court extreme lag.

Rune. I know from experience.

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Luckily, the 2.5km physics range is only a problem when under 24km in altitude. A stage falling from 70km has a minute and a half before it gets that low, and then will take under three to land safely. If the orbiter has decent thrust it can work with those times, but you need to keep an eye on it during the insertion burn.

SSTO, can lift and deploy a full jumbo fuel tank:

-snip-

Fuel delivery vessel, Tanks cannot be released but craft can transfer ~1.8 jumbo tanks worth of fuel out and then return:

-snip-

Very nice, man. Could you add links the the craft files?

[antbin]

SSTO, can lift and deploy a full jumbo fuel tank:]

Very nice flying wing! More pics anywhere?

Maybe this belongs in this thread as well... an SSTO, not quite as elegant as PseudoMonkey's lifter fleet, but tidy enough. Maybe I'll put the finishing touches on her someday. (version 0.91 here)

But first - time to start an Origami lander challenge time! (Lander must launch as a vertical stack, can be decoupled and assembled in orbit, then must land on the Mun and return). Edhorn's idea, what do you think?

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[ThePsuedoMonkey]

It's been a while since I've contributed to this thread, but I managed to convert my rockets to use the model node system that was introduced in 0.20. This essentially "welds" parts together to reduce physics calculations at the expense of adding more parts to your library, while keeping the stock meshes and collision models. For instance, this becomes a single part:

For those interested, you can grab the parts and modified craft files here.

[Radam]

This is basically a refined turbojet ssto. 2.2 worth of ram intakes per engine, 8 engines and 2 rocket engines. 72t at launch, delivering 27t into orbit and then landing... on launchpad strusses. Ony mechanical jeb was used...

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Edited August 26, 2013 by Radam

[KerbMav]

Yes, unfortunately, the 2.5km atmospheric deletion is a problem. My current Nova series lifters can have parachutes slapped on and called reusable easy. The solution I have found to the unloading is Ferram Aerospace. It actually redoes that so your stuff won't unload. I still don't know if physics still load on it or not as that can effect whether or not the parachute is usable.

FAR does that??

It would be cool, if Squad could use some simplified physics calculations on parts in atmospheres - or postpone calculations in a "what happened to that stage though" way - but options one seems more likely.

[Captain Sierra]

Another thing to get around the 2.5km deletion is romfarer's buran manipulators (though you may require probe parts on things - not sure what it does to debris), the part doesn't even have to be on the vessel.

That is because it is a function of the romfarer.dll, which all his mods have.

Inspired by the Falcon 9, the Phoenix lifter series, fully reusable.

multiple uppers and lowers split in two pieces (for variable fuel combinations) as perfect subassemblies.

The one pictured is the Phoenix 12 with Titan 3 upper.

[John FX]

Its funny. I was in the process of designing a 55-ton reusable launching platform, fitted with docking nodes for repeated use (Using a helicopter or VTOL to lift the payload on to the top). Suppose you beat me to the concept!

I also was in the process of making a challenge along these very lines after seeing the SpaceX stage lift off then land at the pad again. Guess this is where it happens then!

[Nephf]

Falcon 9 v1.1

Thread

Download Here

Liftoff:

First Stage Landing after seperation:

[Captain_Party]

Where did the OP get subassembly loader?

[Captain Sierra]

Where did the OP get subassembly loader?

Does it matter? We are getting subassemblies in a few weeks.

My Phoenix XII Heavy, fully reusable in the style of a Falcon 9.

[Captain_Party]

True dat sir.