Naming scheme for your ships! (0.24 edition)

[cantab]

I've tended to just name series of rocket designs, with a common name and then a number. If I launch multiple missions with the same design, they all keep the same name; so far things haven't got complicated enough for that to be a problem. It's somewhat arbitrary when I feel I've changed the design enough to warrant a new number rather than just considering it a tweak of the same design.

Specifically, in career mode I have the Grey Smudge series, numbers 1 through 22. In that I'll start a new series when I unlock new tech. In Sandbox I have the TMIARS series (Trust Me, I'm a Rocket Scientist) for my "joke" rockets, and the AbR 1 (Ambitious, but rubbish) was my aptly named first attempt at a heavy lifter.

[Jouni]

Most of my ships get descriptive names. In my current sandbox game, there are a lot of Utility Tugs, Kethane Probes, Heavy Kethane Drills, and similar things around. The same applies to my space stations: Kerbin Orbital Station 1 and Kerbin Orbital Station 2 are at LKO, while Laythe Orbital Station 1 is still on its way to the destination.

Large interplanetary ships and ships on special missions can get individual names. The first scout ship was named Prometheus, and the first cargo ship became Nostromo, because kerbals believe those names bring good luck. In a similar way, the ship that went to do a close Sun flyby and returned to Kerbin after five orbits was called Icarus.

Early career mode rockets get standardized names. Orbitrator II was the second rocket that tried to reach orbit, and Munator III was the third rocket that tried to reach Mun or Minmus. At that point, I got bored with the career mode. Otherwise the next rocket would have been called Dunator I.

[Poryy]

Career:

Photon (Number) - (Function) = Kerbin system landers that use the Photon launcher.

Hyperion (Number) - (Function) = Ships that go to Duna

Aelous (Number) - (Function) = Ships that go to Jool

Khoine (Number) = Minmus manned exploration vessels

Aster (Number) - (Function) = General purpose interplanetary probes

Sandbox:

Raven (Number) = Manned Mün craft

Talon (Number) = Manned Minmus craft

Shrike (Planet Name) = General purpose interplanetary probe

Shadow (Planet Name) = Manned interplanetary vessel

In sandbox I stick to Raven Guard-like names (From WH40k )

In career I name stuff after Greek/Roman deities.

[problemecium]

I name them whatever they do, e.g.:

Space Tug

Station Core Mk1

Mun Base

Booster Stage Mk2

SSL 4 (SSL stands for "Single Stage Lifter").

For most stuff I use "Mk1", etc. for different versions and sometimes expand to "Mk1b" or "v2" for minor revisions.

[Random Tank]

I have a standard way of naming my creations:

I first start with a TLA prefix which tells me what the ship does, IPS (Interplanetary Ship), OBP (Orbital Probe), RDS (Resource Detector Satellite, SRB (Surface Research Base) to name a few.

I then have the ships class name, such as: 'Buster', 'Amarr', 'Exetrek', 'Ordoid' and etc.

It is then followed up with the ship's model; any craft still in testing or is WIP will have the Prototype suffix, but when a finished design passes its tests it will be given 'Mark 1' status, showing that it is a successful craft; any further modifications will increase the Mark to show the ship's stages of development.

Simple really!

[Macrocosmus]

My Ships in one save were all, Alpha Alpha Alpha 1 and so forth. I think I got up to Gamma Delta Charlie 4 before I changed mods and made a new save. Now I just do things like, "Comsat Go Please 3" and "Lander Cander Mun or sometihng 2"

[Space_Meerkat]

Well First i look at its goals, how far its going, then part count, and Kerbal count (or none at all) So lets say its going to Jool With 300 parts and 7 kerbals. so Jool is one of the farthest planets but not the farthest making it Ba (where A is farthest and B is not so far, more letters are included if going to moons or multiple destinations) part count is relatively large so its Bal ( where L is lots and A is not so many) and 7 kerbals is relatively simple so 7th letter is G its Balg and its meant to explore Jool so Balg Explorer, only read on if you want to know names for going to Jools Moons

Pol: Distance Ba (As its in Jools SOI) Bae ( as its the furthest moon of Jool and the 5th e = 5th letter) Bae part count 350 so Baen and 3 Kerbals Is Baenc but Baenc doesn't sound right so i move it one letter further and its Baend ( if it doesn't sound right i do that to all my ships)

Bop: Distance Ba (Jool SOI) Bad 4th Moon of Jool Part count 350 Badn 1 Kerbal, Badna Station

Tylo: Distance Ba (Jools SOI) Bac 3rd Moon of Jool Part count 400 Bco Kerbals 1, Bacoa Explorer

Vall: Ba ( Jool SOI) Bab Part count 20 Babh Kerbals None = Babh 1 ( 1 is unmanned probe 3 is unmanned station 5 is unmanned lander 7 is unmanned Spaceplane, etc.

Laythe Ba (Jool SOI) Baa part count 500 Baast ( after it goes further than o with part count i choose any 2 letters i like) Kerbals 12 (3 Hitchhikers) Baastl Base ( if its a giant mission i usually name it after Roman and Greek Gods and Heroes

[TranquilTempest]

Ship going to Laythe: The Ferryman

Ship going to Eve: Lilith

Ship going to Duna and Ike: Dwight

Ship going to Mun: Munophage (the lander looks like a bacteriophage)

etc.

[Lambert2191]

First career I stuck with Greek/Roman/Norse Mythology. Flybys of Mun were called Atlas, Landers to Mun were called Apollo, Flybys of Minmus were Odin, Landers on Minmus were called Thor (several of each went, every time I unlocked new science parts a newer version launched, Thor MkI, Thor MkII etc.

Second Career I went with generic names

Mun Lander MkI, etc.

Just started a new career, may go back to the mythology naming technique.

[Stratoroc]

Stations around Kerbin and the moons are named after my favorite sci fi authors. spaceplanes are named after rock/mountain-y things. Large never to land motherships are named after strong sounding qualities, endurance solitude and the like.

[federally]

It's pretty simple for me, I name the craft based on what it's intended purpose is. Then I add a number for each iteration, and based on me being fairly new to KSP and not a great rocket builder I usually wind up with plenty of numbers after the name. Ex. My first flyby of the Mun was achieved with "Trying Not to Suck IX" and my first landing with "Mun Lander VII".

[Trann]

I've changed mine so that any ship name I create is prefixed by a double digit number.

01 - Test Flight

02 - Suborbital

03 - Orbital

...

20 - Probe Sat

This preserves the history of creation order (instead of alphabetical) and the last of any particular series (ie, probes) has the most recently unlocked tech.

[ThomsenX]

I mostly design and assemble orbital stations, so here's my planned Koviet Union naming series:

The name of our current station is Aksinya, derived from hospitality. It shall be referred to by its name or, in certain cases, its abbreviation: AKS.

Each module has a Russian/Slavic name derived from its function, e.g. Prokopy (means: progress or advance, is: science lab) or Zoya (means: life, is: life support module), and is usually shortened to its abbreviation, number of permanent instance and, if replaced, lowercase letter noting revisions, as well as other notable characteristics, as such:

Zo-3bT

...meaning that it's the 3rd Zoya life support module on the station, it has been replaced once (thus: b) and is temporary (T).

So in general:

[Abbreviated name of craft] - [# instance] [revision] [additional tags]

The space program works with a limited number of standardized launchers, e.g.:

Li-25 Sirius

...where Li indicates a lifter class vessel, 25 indicates a 2.5 meter rocket and Sirius is a designated name of a star.

This is my first time working with truly specialized modules and thus an actual naming program. For the record, I do not speak a single word Russian, so all names are based on internet sources!

Now, I should probably launch the first module soon...

[mangekyou-sama]

I've just gotten the new version and boy it seems I've missed a freaking lot! I've yet to come up with a new naming scheme for my upcoming program but don't let that stop you from posting yours!

[Solivagant]

I have a pretty thorough naming system, basically XXX-XXXX-NAME.

Location:

Kerbol: KBL

Moho: MOH

Eve: EVE

Gilly:GIL

Kerbin: KBN

Mun: MUN

Minmus: MIN

Duna: DUN

Ike: IKE

Dres: DRS

Jool: JOO

Laythe: LAY

Vall: VAL

Tylo: TYL

Bop: BOP

Pol: POL

Eeloo: ELO

Asteroid: AST

Craft Type:

Motherships (have to be named for scifi writers): MOTH

Landers (have to be named for flightless birds): LNDR

Rovers (have to be named for insects): ROVR

Probes (have to be named for astronomers): PRBE

Stations (have to named for explorers): STTN

Bases (have to be named for geologists): BASE

Experimentals (have to be named for Greek letters):EXPL

Utility (have to be named for their purpose): UTLY

So for instance, my Vall lander is named VAL-LNDR Rhea. My Duna probe is DUN-PRBE Rümker. My Eeloo mothership would be ELO-MOTH ​Lovell.

[nadreck]

Right now, my names denote function, generation, destination/application - so SciLander Mk3M RV is my third generation of Science collection lander (temp, barometer, mystery goo, materials lab) version M for Mun or Minmus (D for Duna/Ike one is one the way) and RV is a special application, it has a probe core and is being sent to Mun (and a 2nd will go to Minmus) as Rescue Vehicles to be permanently in orbit there. I have some generation 1 (pre docking port) Kerbin orbit rescue vehicles just hanging out in case of contracts.

[CalculusWarrior]

Famous scientists. For example, my first Munar science station was named Galileo, then its replacement was called Copernicus. I try to match the scientist's major discovery(ies) to the spacecraft's purpose; my Kerbin nuclear test station (KSP Interstellar, yeah!) is named after Marie Curie.

[Colserra3]

Get ready for some major O.C.D! (It's actually O.C.P.D. but most people just say O.C.D. (There I go!))

I usually name my manned ships according to what missions they are.

E.G: Artemis 1 (moon mission), Hermes (interplanetary vessel), and other names similar.

My probes are usually just abbreviations.

E.G: K.O.K.D. (Kerbin Orbital Kethane Detector), M.M.S. (Minmus Mapping Satellite), etc.

My space station names are unique to every one.

E.G: K.I.S.S. (Kerbin International Space Station), K.O.O.S. (Kerbol Orbital Observation Station)

And I use Mk. 1, Mk. 2, etc. at the end of the names whenever I make design changes.

E.G: Adding 4 SRB's onto the rocket body.

But I have no standardised naming scheme for my subassemblies... yet...

[Russoft]

My naming scheme is currently quite boring.

My space agency is called Lagorbital so I prefix everything with L.

LR # - manned rocket. where # is a hexadecimal number (1 thru F) indicating the chronological order of creation.

LX # - experimental vehicle.

LP - unmanned probe.

LAP - SPH aircraft

LAX - SPH experimental vehicle

I often tag a name on the end of important missions (i.e. "Duna Direkt", "Duna Return", "Manned Mun", "Mun Base")

[No one]

I have a systematic naming for what I leave behind, but for the ship which gets there I give it a non-systematic name.

For what I leave behind:

(Unless otherwise specified, XXX means "The name of the planet/moon it's on/orbiting)

(Unless otherwise specified, I/One can be other numbers, I just generally don't put any more than one thing there because that would be pointless)

For bases (Ship with cockpit&Kerbal left behind for the purpose of planting flags. All have the capability of getting home): XXX Base One

For satellites (Unmanned probe, usually without any method of propulsion, left in orbit for the purpose of getting science near that body): XXX-Sat I

For lander probes (Unmanned probe, used when I couldn't return a Kerbal (Eve) and/or I was visiting many things with one ship and didn't feel like making a ship carry 5 manned landers (Jool's moons), similar to the satellite except has RCS thrusters and monopropellant, an accelerometer, abd also if the thing I'm landing on has an atmosphere a barometer and nose cone): XXX-Lander I

[scipiosgoblin]

I just ask my wife or 5 year-old son for a random name. That technique gets some interesting results. Such as:

Moose capsule (son)

Sirene (wife)

Minerve (wife)

Lexington (son)

Penobscott (son)

My son and I are playing the original Sid Meier's Colonization right now, if you are wondering why he's coming up with colonial city names.

[montyben101]

For my shuttle: STS-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... Ect

For Soyuz there are the rocket itself and then a different numbering system for the Soyuz ship.

For my proton rocket it's a simple number system

[Fizwalker]

I don't really have a naming convention per se....But I go with a name and then, while it is in development go with Mod [X] (where X is an integer) and once I approve it for service, I go with Mk I etc with numbers beyond one being either an improvement on the ship or a different version but based on the same hull. Mk I is the first feasible working design that meets all the original goals for the design (though not necessarily efficiently). That said, I do believe in the KISS and 'If It Isn't Broken, Don't Fix It' principles... So unless there is a goal/mission change, there aren't many Mk IIs or beyond in my inventory. Frankly, I suspect there will be more once I get the knack of building spaceplanes.... And I might revise that in future builds now that I have contracts to worry about.... Though given the lack of long term contracts (that I have seen so far at least), that might not happen even then.

[MrKurtz]

Usually knockoffs of Earth missions (SkyHab station, Cronus V lifter) or just something stupid yet relevant (Satellite of Love, Joolius Caesar). Derivatives and upgrades are letters and block numbers.

[Blind Dead McJones]

In sandbox, I started with names from Norse mythology. I have:

Valkyrie - Direct ascent lander for Mun and Minmus, slightly modified as an orbital rendezvous lander for interplanetary missions

Sleipnir - CTV based on Valkyrie lander. Holds seven Kerbals and I could probably fit more if there was a part designed for ship passengers. Instead I make do with the hitchhiker unit which is designed for living space.

Station Asgard - Kerbin station.

Base Valhalla - First Mun base.

But I then kinda relaxed it when I realised I don't know many places for names on the top of my head. Once I come up with a design I like better than the Valhalla design for a base, I wanna build one on Minmus and name it Base Shangri-La. Since I'm planning pretty far ahead, I also picked out the name Hyperborea for Eeloo.

In Career, everything is named for explorers, sometimes with modified spelling for Kerbals. My Mun lander in that save is called Magellan. My Minmus program will be Kopernicus.