Reusing launch stage?

[Dun Kirk]

I've dragged my launch stage up into orbit by draining everything dry. Would this make sense to refuel and use to boost off to interplanetary?

(This is my way of getting around having to dock *wobbley* things together.)

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[Specialist290]

I don't see any reason you couldn't, aside from the Mainsails being either useless dead weight or horribly fuel-inefficient in space.

That said, unless you have a pressing need to take your launch stage with you, I'd probably just detach the launcher, since the payload looks like it can perform an interplanetary mission all by itself. It's ultimately up to your own judgement, of course.

[Technical Ben]

I've often got a selection of "spare parts" docked into a "junk station" or two in orbit around quite a few astronomical bodies in the Kerbol system.

So why not, might come in handy. Just remember though, refueling might take longer than just sending a new, better stage up. So just keep it for emergency returns and stuff.

[SRV Ron]

If you redesign the launch stage so that you could ditch the Mainsails just before reaching orbit, then use the LV-N to complete the orbit, refueling would make a lot of sense giving you tons of Delta V for interplanetary exploration.

This was one such similar design where the less efficient but more powerful engines were staged leaving their unused fuel for the LV-N. You do have to run a fuel line back to an engine that is attached by a decoupler..

[700NitroXpress]

It would certainly help if you did and save the fuel of your main transfer stage, but this is only really useful if you're going to distant planets or Moho.

[sibrit]

If Squad implement a career mode where we have to pay for the components we use, then I can see a reason to re-use the lifter, otherwise just dump it. You would be using a lot of fuel unnecessarily getting those mainsails into orbit. I had put together a lifter using orange tanks and mainsails where I could recover them once they parachuted down, but I could only ever save the one I was focused on. The others were on rails and just crashed into Kerbin.

[Dun Kirk]

So if I strapped nukes and jettisoned the mainsails, this set up would be "slightly" better. I just want to build a core interstellar craft without wobbles.

How many is too many nukes?

[jwilhite]

Personally, I think 2 nukes is too many for most missions. If you add another nuke you get twice the thrust and consume twice as much fuel. The extra thrust doesn't really buy you anything in space (unless you just can't stand the long burn times). However, bringing the extra nuke adds a LOT of extra weight to the launch. I would prefer to just have one nuke and be patient. Even if you can't get up enough velocity to hit Kerbin escape velocity on your first pass around the planet, you can just burn again on your second pass around the planet and still get about the same Oberth effect because you would be burning at the periapsis the second time around.

Anyway, I've never built a craft big enough to require more than one nuke, but maybe there is a good reason to do it for very large crafts.