0.23 MUNSHINE LIFTERS -5-165 tons to orbit, including low-tech Career Mode versions!

[Wayfare]

Is there a 0.22 version available?

These designs should be fully backwards compatible to 0.22. If you find any problems, try the 0.21 versions instead. The latter pack doesn't include the 5, 125 and 165-ton variants but the rest of the gang is all there.

[Fox62]

These aren't. I tried to load them in .22, but the game said that the .craft files weren't compatible with that version of KSP.

[Wayfare]

These aren't. I tried to load them in .22, but the game said that the .craft files weren't compatible with that version of KSP.

Oh Maybe if you edit the version numbers in the .craft files?

[ndiver]

I tried the 100t version in 0.23, works perfectly fine

I used it to bring a jumbo tank and some other stuffs (monoprob, batteries, locking ports ...) to a space station at 200km in an automatic mode with MechJeb

[Tangle]

With 0.23's mechjeb and virtually no idea of the angle I was supposed to have, it turns out somewhere around 27% turn shape is right for the 10-ton vehicle.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Tangle

[USKnight]

The Munshine family of launchers is very dependable and I've employed them since I found this thread weeks ago. Kudos to Wayfare for developing a great line of payload lifters that have become the backbone of my Space Program. The design time saved by trusting the Munshines to do the job has greatly advanced my Space Program from Space Station construction to vehicle orbital delivery. Thank you!

Edited January 31, 2014 by USKnight

[Zuni]

Bumpity bump buuurmp

[John Crichton]

Using this for 99% of my launches, thanks a lot!

[Space_Meerkat]

Do These actually lift those payloads to the Mun or are they just called that?

[TheWanderer]

quote from first post in thread

"Proven in the field - All Munshine lifters have been tested thoroughly by the Wayfare AE&KA crew up to their payload rating (and sometimes a little over) to stable, circular orbits of 80km."

[Giggleplex777]

Do These actually lift those payloads to the Mun or are they just called that?

The 2 and 3 can get 6 and 9 tons to the Mun respectively.

[ExplodingRocketShips]

HALT!

This is an intervention by The UFJ

Hand over the blueprints and you will not be harmed.

[Camaron]

Blueprints are public domain, silly. First post.

[Wayfare]

Do These actually lift those payloads to the Mun or are they just called that?

I can understand why you would think that, but as has been said, these are surface-to-LKO lifters. Please prepare to take a trip down Wayfare AE&KA Memory Lane

A little over half a year ago, during the Great Apollo-Style Mun Rocket Craze, we released the original Munshine V. This was a fully-featured Apollo-style spacecraft including a command and service module and a Munar lander. It was quite a hit because it had the lowest parts count around and it was featured on YouTube by

and the venerable

.

When 0.21 rolled around we released an updated version that was even lighter and even more of a crowd favorite, picking up close to 1500 downloads in its time. We were then also working on the Modular Mission System which required the development of both a lighter and a heavier lifter. We used the Munshine V's launcher as a template for those and soon after released them as the first Munshine Family lifter pack. We'd found a good niche - simple, serially-staged rockets with low parts counts and dependable operation.

In September of 2013 we released the expanded Munshine lifter family. Giggleplex777 had joined the company and used the Munshine template to create a slew of launchers, both lighter and heavier than the originbal 22-75 ton range. But the core features remained the same: they were simple, light on parts, and reliable. Which brings us to today and this thread, where the Munshine lifter family consists of nine vehicles with a payload range between 5 and 165 tons (and a tenth in the works).

Apollo-style spacecraft aren't as hot as they used to be, but we did release an updated version of our original craft as the Munraker. It still sits on top of a Munshine V lifter, as is appropriate. As you can see, over time the name "Munshine", though once marking out a Munar spacecraft, has been adopted by this family of lifters and its name-giver has actually had its name changed to avoid further confusion.

If you want to go even further back, have a look at October of 2012 and the very first Wayfare AE&KA rocket, the Munshine XI-B. Which was also featured on

. But there is no real evolutionary link between that old dog of a rocket and the lifters before you today

[Justin Kerbice]

Looks great, thanks for your work Wayfare.

[ndiver]

Can i suggest one or more intermediate variants between the Munshine IV and V ?

The gap from 22 to 55 tons is a bit large from my point-of-view.

Two variants of 32 and 42 tons might be useful, and realized either by downgrading the Munshine V, either by upgrading the Munshine IV.

And the best : that's eco-friendly by avoiding to send to space unnecessary resources from our precious Kerbin

[Gravitas Shortfall]

If you can make a 200 ton serial lifter, that would be flat out amazing. I personally don't think it can be done, but you sir seem to have other ideas about serial staging.

And lol to lifting the Munshine III with an IX.

I have a 2-stager that can just barely manage 288 tons to a 70km orbit. Part count isn't awful, but it will occasionally fall apart on the launch pad. Maybe one of these days I'll clean it up a bit and post in on here, but the gist is 19 mainsails behind 38 orange tanks in the first stage, and 7 mainsails behind 14 orange tanks in the second. The tricky bit is getting it all to hold together with minimal strutting.

[Giggleplex777]

Can i suggest one or more intermediate variants between the Munshine IV and V ?

The gap from 22 to 55 tons is a bit large from my point-of-view.

Two variants of 32 and 42 tons might be useful, and realized either by downgrading the Munshine V, either by upgrading the Munshine IV.

And the best : that's eco-friendly by avoiding to send to space unnecessary resources from our precious Kerbin

It's being worked on.

[Wayfare]

Yeah, I need to get off my ass and release the 40-tonner already I think I'll go for the downgraded Munshine V Giggle pictured - its TWR-curve is fairly smooth and it doesn't get dwarfed by its payload much.

[Pondafarr]

Just so you know, I LOVE these lifters. I've been playing with the Modular Base Builder Kit, and replace the provided lifters with your Munshine equivalents. Result? Parts count goes down, they look better, and much enjoyment is had for all.

Do you have any info for efficient mechjeb ascent profiles?

[Larrt_M]

Great job on these lifters! I've used two so far and I am amazed at how easy they are to control.

I will be watching for future updates..

Thanks for putting in all the hard work!

[Giggleplex777]

With ARM parts, I'm planning on building 500 ton lifters.

[Woopert]

Holy Jebediah...

Will look forward to that! I've always liked Munshine lifters but only started using them recently! They're fantastic, it's basically strap a Munshine under the payload and it works!

[Wayfare]

With ARM parts, I'm planning on building 500 ton lifters.

And just imagine the number of struts we'll be able to get rid of

From what I've seen on YouTube so far, a simple two-stage SLS stack without boosters should be able to lift 40-60 tons to LKO. And that'll only be a dozen parts or so including fins and launch clamps. Build that out Munshine-style and payloads of several hundred tons should be no problem.

[Woopert]

And just imagine the number of struts we'll be able to get rid of

From what I've seen on YouTube so far, a simple two-stage SLS stack without boosters should be able to lift 40-60 tons to LKO. And that'll only be a dozen parts or so including fins and launch clamps. Build that out Munshine-style and payloads of several hundred tons should be no problem.

I actually like the way the struts are currently set up on the Munshine's. They look cool, I incorporate the "crossing" technique on my designs sometimes, it makes it look sort of realistic, in a way. Like how the Russians use for connecting stages to each other.

Oh, and are there any areas I could help out with Munshine? Like designing a rocket to fill in any gaps? I know there's one being worked on between Munshine IV and Munshine V, but anything else would be cool. And, one last question: will the higher end Munshine's be phased out into the new size parts, so they look less like, a bunch of fuel tanks strapped together? They already look nice but a nice SLS/Saturn style rocket would look really slick!