RULOS: ReUsable Low Orbit Shuttle (1.5 STO launcher,reusable 2k DV vehicle, DR+ FAR)

[dlrk]

The RULOS(ReUsable Low Orbit Shuttle) is an efficient, small, and mostly reusable vehicle I initially built as a space station crew shuttle, as well as a vehicle that could be towed to Kerbin's moons, and possibly other planets. It is built for use with Ferram Aerospace and Deadly Reentry. It's entire upper stage (which I call the spacecraft, differentiating it from the the first stage and SRBs, which I call the launcher) is reusable, meaning it returns to Kerbin, making a soft landing on land, entirely intact except for the heatshield. Although originally built primarily as a low orbit shuttle(hence the name), it is capable of much more. Once in Kerbin orbit, the spacecraft has over 2000 Delta-V left(assuming an efficient launch profile). On it's own, I have taken it for fly bys and orbits of the Mun. It has been towed to Duna orbit and back. I've had several iterations of it, this being the one I call RULOS-D(with A, B and C having been built previously). The major changes have been to the launcher, which originally had the less efficient KW Maverick-V instead of the current Rockomax Atlas. Additionally, until this variant, Rockmax 55 engines were used on the upper stage, instead of Novapunch radial liquid boosters. This was another power for delta-v tradeoff.

Pictures:

On the Pad:

In orbit:

Reentry:

On the ground after landing:

RULOS-C docked to station(previous pictures are RULOS-D, engines being the difference):

How to fly?

The RULOS is fairly easy to fly, but more complex than most KSP spacecraft.

It has 3 action groups, aside from the gear, which is operated by the gear group as usual.

AG 1:Solar panels. This deploys the solar panels, best used as soon as the vehicle has left Kerbin's atmosphere.

AG 2:Reentry configuration: This inflates the heatshield and raises the airbrakes, increasing drag and forcing the vehicle retrograde, allowing reentry heat to be absorbed by the shield. I recommend activating this group once in the mid-range of Kerbin's atmosphere, but it can be activated earlier if increased drag is desired. According FAR, this configuration raise the drag coefficient from .29 to .36. Note the heatshield cannot be deflated after being inflated, and is expendable, being dropped just before the drogue chutes.

AG 3:Airbrakes: This toggles the airbrakes, useful for controlling drag during the late stages of reentry/landing.

Ascent Profile:

The climb I use is straight up until 70 m/s surface speed, then pitch and roll to 70 pitch 90 heading until ~8500m, then follow the orbital prograde marker until apoapsis is at the desired altitude(I usually use 200km), then coast to periapsis before firing again to circularize. This profile will usually result in SRB staging shortly after the pitch down to prograde, and 50-100 Delta-V remaining in the first stage. A KOS script is included. I recommend adding the KOS module to the MK1-2 command pod to use this script with the vehicle.

Reentry/landing:

A landing near KSC can generally be obtained by placing a periapsis of 30-35km just east of the island east of the KSC continent. I'm working on a better method, and if anyone does have a better one, please suggest.

Make sure to retract the panels before entering the atmosphere(AG 1), and deploy the heatshield and airbrakes at or before entering the middle, thicker part of Kerbin's atmosphere.

Remaining delta V in the spacecraft engines can be used to adjust descent. Deploy the drogues when around 5-10km above the desired landing site, then the main chutes at 2500 or less. Make sure to lower the gear. A softer touch down can be obtained by firing the engines before touch down.

Mods used:

KW Rocketry(fairings not required, look for the SRB nosecone fix a couple pages in)

Novapunch(radial liquid booster)

B9(airbrakes and RCS)

Taverio's Pizza and Aerospace(conformal long RCS)

Deadly Reentry(heatshield usefulness and decoupler)

Planetes Corporation Heatshields(inflatable heatshield. Do not use the included deadly reentry plugin, use the newest available one.)

KSPX(Rockomax Atlas)

Radial Drogue by Konraden (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/28063-Radial-Drogue-Parachute) (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1nd101yncfyn1nn/vlEWQwjjaV/KSP_Parts)

Kerbal Engineer Redux

MechJeb(may work without)

KOS(may work without)

Designed with Ferram Aerospace and Deadly Reentry

KOS script:

clearscreen.
SAS on.
lock throttle to 1.
lock steering to R(0,0,0).
print "Launch".
stage.
wait until verticalspeed > 70.
print "Roll and pitch".
toggle sas.
lock steering to heading 90 by 70.
wait until altitude > 7500.
lock steering to PROGRADE.
print "Prograde".
wait until stage:solidfuel = 0.
stage.
print "SRB separation".
wait until apoapsis > 200000.
print "Apoapsis coast, panels out.".
toggle ag1.
lock throttle to 0.
wait until altitude > 60000.
lock throttle to 1.
wait until apoapsis > 200000.
lock throttle to 0.
wait until altitude = apoapsis.
print "Circularization".
lock throttle to 1.
wait until apoapsis-periapsis < 8000.
lock throttle to 0.
toggle sas.
print "Orbit".

CRAFT file:http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/rulos-d/