General Liftersâ„¢. Awesome boosters to cover every need! (5-10-20-30-50-75-100mT to LKO)

[Rune]

After much testing and VAB mucking around, here they are! Not so much a family as a design philosophy, they nonetheless share lots of common details:

- They all have fairings. Why? Well, because they look cool, mostly, but perhaps they make them work in Ferram, who knows. Feel free to save them as subassemblies to use, they are standard sizes that fit 1.25 to 3.75 standard tank diameters with lots of room in them, and you could always extend them by copying sections (ALT+click copies instead of grabbing).

- All upper stages are "Smart". That means independent RCS subsystem, some batteries and probe and SAS units. No space debris, even if you run them dry by mistake!

- Form over function. Most are bigger than they should, and none of them go after efficiency. We are here to play a game, and we all like to see nice things on the screen. This is my best stab at providing that, hope you guys like it!

- Fuel lines are for sissies. While some of them don't follow this rule (and are therefore likely to be replaced), most of them do and still make a 2.5 staging work. Why? Again, personal aesthetics. I like the engineering solution, tanks are light, and if you do it right it is also close to what the best asparagus can offer. Think of it as a challenge I set for myself while building. Besides, I don't use SRBs nearly enough, and this is my way of making amends for that, many of them use solid boosters. The idea is no core should be able to lift off without help from the boosters, but they do have huge mass ratios.

-Subassembly friendly. While they come with a standard benchmark payload included, the root part is always (IIRC) the decoupler that joins that to the rocket, so you can either: a) take out the payload and build your own or take everything under the decoupler and make that a subassembly, or even c) take out the payload, save, then use the file as a perfect subassembly without any struts messing up. I thought it was the most convenient way to provide for every preference.

So without further due, here they are, for your use and enjoyment. Hope you put them to good use!

5 mT General Lifter "Scout"

A complete redesign of another one, it turned out a very simple two stage to orbit design, with a somewhat unusual launch (T/W is so low the ~10m/s those separatrons give you upon liftoff really helps). Delta-v budget, like in most models is really tight, so err on the side of caution and pick a bigger launcher if you push the payload past the certified load.

10mT General Lifter "Pathfinder"

The only one with crossfeeding, this one was built mostly to fill the spot between other rockets, and it shows. Probably the likeliest to be replaced. Replaced! Now it uses medium SRBs for a 2.5 staging scheme like the rest of the family. No crossfeed technology here!

20mT General Lifter "Ranger"

Probably the one I'm most proud of, this one is a beauty to fly. The beast that is the new LRB provides for a very long-burning core that takes you almost all the way to orbit, with a legitimate use of SRBs that fit just like they were tailored for the launch. The upper stage actually does little of the job, and thus has very little thrust, but is a great basis for cruise stages with smaller payloads. Most payloads should fit here, at least as long as they aren't bundles of independent vehicles and/or very kerbal stuff (you decide what that means).

Edit:

30mT General Lifter "Forerunner"

A straight evolution of the Ranger, with enlarged fairing, uprated core engine to 125% nominal thrust (thrust is set to 80% on the Ranger), double up on boosters and an upper stage with twice the fuel and thrust. It was surprisingly easy to put together, and it was done so at the request of the public. Thanks, public!

50mT General Lifter "Longstrider"

Possessing pretty much the same flight profile but with a beefier upper stage and correspondingly smaller core (the LRBs thrust is awesome even among the ARM update engines), this one looks very ...., and the fairing fits very well with the vehicle. Ideal for a heavy workhorse.

75mT General Lifter "Nomad"

Yes, this is one looks like it should be crossfed, right? Wrong, no fuel lines here! Just good old R-7 style liquid boosters helping get the most use out of a high-isp sustainer and allowing very big payloads, that would be impossible to do without clustering engines in a traditional two-stage design. Oh, and the shroud can handle 3.75m tanks... with room to spare!

100mT General Lifter "Peregrine"

Almost the same thing as the 75mT one, only this one has MOAR BOOSTERS and a bigger shroud. Jeb would be proud.

DOWNLOADS:

5mT General Lifter

10mT General Lifter

20mT General Lifter

30mT General Lifter

50mT General Lifter

75mT General Lifter

100mT General Lifter

IMGUR ALBUM:

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The full family is pictured there sequentially, from smallest to biggest, with a full test launch with comments. Be sure to check it out for the details!

And that does it for now. But I'm not saying they aren't subject to revision and/or new additions... After all, some of you are already thinking these are way too small, I'm sure

Rune. To the sky on a pillar of flame!

Edited January 4, 2015 by Rune

[Giggleplex777]

Yes! A lifter system that can compare with my own. I *might* steal some ideas from your fairings...

Edited May 19, 2014 by Giggleplex777

[Rune]

I think the download for the 5mT lifter is that of the older model.

Yup, a tab was still open with the prompt "do you want to replace?" That one is close but sadly doesn't really make orbit by itself. An awesome 4mT probe launcher, so keep it as an easter egg. Have fun taking them apart! (and they are a good source of fairings).

Rune. And that is one of the reasons I wait a couple of days before posting on my main thread.

[astropapi1]

Congrats on the release! I really like the look of these lifters.

It's great to step aside from ugly asparagus lifters from time to time.

[Woopert]

Gonna have to download these, they're that awesome!

You should add a 30 mT lifter, that would be nice.

[Darth Lazarus]

absolutly beautifull Rune .... *dazes in awwww*

[Majorjim!]

Hi rune,

Really great launchers you made there!

And lovely fairings.

As a bit of a stock faring maker myself I am curious

As to how they separate?

MJ

[Black_Tomcat]

Really good looking rockers you got there, I just wish the game was more optimized so I could use those some Mord.

Small question though:

So is mT supposed to be the payload mass in milli tons? Because in that case you might have forgotten a 0 on most oft them, except if that last launcher really only lifts 10 tons.

Might be a misunderstanding from my side as well.

[Jouni]

I guess that mT refers to tonnes (or metric tons) here. Technically it would mean milliteslas - mt would be millitonnes.

For the 10-tonne lifter, I would suggest using two big new SRBs as boosters and a Skipper in the lower stage. Throttling the SRBs down to 70-80% keeps the TWR reasonable for all stages, even though it doesn't really matter that much.

[Giggleplex777]

Really good looking rockers you got there, I just wish the game was more optimized so I could use those some Mord.

Small question though:

So is mT supposed to be the payload mass in milli tons? Because in that case you might have forgotten a 0 on most oft them, except if that last launcher really only lifts 10 tons.

Might be a misunderstanding from my side as well.

mT stands for metric tons in this case, although it should stand for milliteslas.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Giggleplex777

[Majorjim!]

it should stand for milliteslas.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

[Giggleplex777]

Gonna have to download these, they're that awesome!

You should add a 30 mT lifter, that would be nice.

I made a 30t lifter with his fairings, but it's not as good as his.

[Transits]

Yes! Finally some non OP realistic boosters. I've been developing things like these but have not created an efficient reusable design yet (I play with reusable designs for realism).

[Rune]

Wow, glad you guys like them! It's a cool reward for the slight effort of putting together the downloads and albums, so thanks! Now some comments to the comments:

Hi rune,

Really great launchers you made there!

And lovely fairings.

As a bit of a stock faring maker myself I am curious

As to how they separate?

MJ

Usually, I split them in two, then put twin sets of separatrons on each side of the seam facing towards each other, sometimes with a bit of an upwards tilt (so they fire downwards). Usually by being on the sides they clear the payload, and if they hit the opposing side, all the better: I get twice the thrust pushing them apart.

I guess that mT refers to tonnes (or metric tons) here. Technically it would mean milliteslas - mt would be millitonnes.

For the 10-tonne lifter, I would suggest using two big new SRBs as boosters and a Skipper in the lower stage. Throttling the SRBs down to 70-80% keeps the TWR reasonable for all stages, even though it doesn't really matter that much.

Yeah, that's (one of many) engineering shorthands to get them differenced from tonnes, be they long or short. And still I made typos somewhere, since the capital T is kinda required. I got the titles right at least... I'll slowly catch all the typos before I merge this into my main thread. To further clarify, mT stands for metric tons, or 1,000kg. In this case, actually, they are whatever the kerbal use for units of mass, which KER translates (I don't know if accurately) into our metric system .

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

Ok, I'm this close to put everything in megagrams (Mg) ... would that make you both happy? xD

I made a 30t lifter with his fairings, but it's not as good as his.

http://i.imgur.com/XyXcFsC.png

Well, seeing the interest, I'll see what I can do, though I reckon doubling on boosters and adding some oomph to the upper stage of the Ranger should do it.

Rune. On the other hand, the 50mT Longstrider is really cool, use it under capacity!

[Rune]

I made a 30t lifter with his fairings, but it's not as good as his.

http://i.imgur.com/XyXcFsC.png

I did as I said, and it needed a bit more than just doubling on boosters. Thankfully, the core engine allowed for some uprating (thrust was set to 80%), so I only had to switch to a skipper on the upper stage and load a bit more fuel on the core and much more on the upper stage. Thankfully, there is a lot of room inside the 2.5 to 3.75 adaptor. I'll be adding it shorlty, but here's how it looks on the pad:

Rune. Now the naming scheme forces me to think a little... suggestions?

[Darnok]

Holy mother of dragons... that looks awesome, please more pics.

[Giggleplex777]

How about Forerunner?

[Ravenchant]

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Rune again."

Guess that says it all. Dayum, those look gorgeous! I really need to step up my game

[Rune]

How about Forerunner?

Done! It should be up now, along with a replacement for the only one that used fuel lines, so I have consistency across the whole family. Refer to the OP for pics, details, and download. Plus, I threw together a collage of the family on paint:

Rune. 2.5 staging FTW!

Edited May 22, 2014 by Rune

[mythic_fci]

I know this isn't really meant to be here, but still, just to show off the practical abilities of the General Lifters series...

The Athena Crew Transfer Vehicle - Powered by a (albeit heavily) modified Ranger!)

Link here

[meatballcannon]

Any chance I could get a launch profile?

[mythic_fci]

Any chance I could get a launch profile?

From my own usage of this series (The 20 and 50 ton launchers helped a lot in building my latest space station), I can say that any flight plan that is reasonable should do the job fairly well. Here's the one I use for every one of my rockets including these:

1. Launch straight up until 10km

2. Gravity turn to 45 degrees at 10-15km

3. Fire rockets until your apoapsis is at your desired altitude (I normally pick 100km as a parking orbit).

4. Burn at apoapsis to bring your periapsis up to the desired altitude (I normally pick anywhere from 80-100km).

5. Release payload

[Rune]

Any chance I could get a launch profile?

Actually, most models are so tight in delta-v that , with maximum payload, they won't be able to make orbit with a simple "turn to 45" tehn "go horizontal, you have to be a bit more efficient than that. But don't worry, it's not that difficult! (Though it's easier with KER). The key is to keep an eye on the "time to apoapsis" readout on map view (or the KER alternative in any view). After booster separation, keep an eye on that, and start a gravity turn as soon as that starts to rise above 20 seconds (about 10,000m high), turning slow enough so that it keeps on rising slowly and gets to 30-45s by the time you reach 45º, then try to keep that stuck around there at around that mark by continuing your turn, until you are going mostly horizontal at near to orbital speeds (>1,500m/s) and can worry about cutting thrust once you reach the desired apoapsis (with full load, they won't get much past 100km circular) and it keeps on rising even if you are pointing straight to prograde.

This "launch profile", BTW, is good for anything that does VTOL on rocket engines, and it will self-adjust to provide you a very efficient launch tailored to your T/W.

Rune. Hope you enjoy them!

[CorBlimey]

Hi - thanks for these. Really pretty lifters. I love what you did with the fairings and seperatrons. It actually feels real

However, I am having trouble pushing the 20 tonne launcher into LKO. I have tried manually piloting it and then with a mechjeb assisted flight profile but I still tank out with about 300 dV required.

Any tips? Or perhaps the game version now means these are no longer viable for their listed payloads?

[Giggleplex777]

Hi - thanks for these. Really pretty lifters. I love what you did with the fairings and seperatrons. It actually feels real

However, I am having trouble pushing the 20 tonne launcher into LKO. I have tried manually piloting it and then with a mechjeb assisted flight profile but I still tank out with about 300 dV required.

Any tips? Or perhaps the game version now means these are no longer viable for their listed payloads?

The twin engine booster was nerfed in 0.24 so it is now less efficient than the Mainsail(which got a buff). These rockets are a bit outdated now, with those heavy structural panel fairings and all.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Giggleplex777