STO - Solids To Orbit [stock]

[corinoco]

Jeb wants economic reform! Access to space is expensive!

What is the expensive part? - PLUMBING. The cost of plumbers these days, sheesh, no wonder they all drive fancy cars!

What is a cheaper form of engine? - FIREWORKS! Jeb knows this guy who can get LOADS of unused fireworks.

Jeb\'s plan is this:

[list type=decimal]

[li]Obtain Fireworks[/li]

[li]Grind up fireworks[/li]

[li]Stuff ground-up fireworks in old rubbish tins, jam jars - what ever you can find, really[/li]

[li]Stack filled tins under capsule[/li]

[li]LIght Fuse & Get Away. FAST[/li]

How hard could it be?

I give you... The LiFGaF!

How To Fly:

[list type=decimal]

[li]Obtain a Fireproof suit[/li]

[li]Activate SAS[/li]

[li]Light fuse and get away. FAST[/li]

[li]If on ground, KEEP RUNNING[/li]

[li]If in spacecraft, it may help to put a paper bag over your head[/li]

[li]Let the first 3 stages burn out - Fire stages ASAP after previous burnout - DO NOT TOUCH ANY OTHER BUTTONS (this includes you, Jeb)[/li]

[li]Once you are burning stage 4 - pitch over. Some. Not too far. About half way should do it.[/li]

[li]Once stage 5 is burning, pitch to the horizon. Try to hold it there.[/li]

[li]Keep burning stages until your velocity is +2,400m/s[/li]

[li]You should now be heading towards an apogee of about 200-300km, but you\'ll be heading back down...[/li]

[li]When you reach apogee, use RCS to raise periapsis to +75km (and turn the apogee into an apoapsis!)[/li]

[li]Break out the tubes of borscht and condensed milk - you\'re in orbit![/li]

[li]Might be a good idea to put out any remaining small fires in the cabin at this point[/li]

[li]Retrofire and atmosphere entry are left as an exercise for the reader & Jeb[/li]

I haven\'t managed to fly this beast into a stable orbit solely on the solids yet - it must be possible though.

I also suspect you could do without the first set of SRBs - I could get apogees on 400km or so, but without enough RCS to obtain orbit.

Oh, and be warned: the first three stages are a bit of a slideshow!

Oh, and if you are watching from the ground the first three sets of spent SRBs will fall pretty much on your heads - so KEEP RUNNING is good advice. A good rule of thumb is that if you can SEE the LiFGaF it can kill you (especially if it clips the launch tower)