Your favorite SSTO?

[Tortoise]

Many people make SSTOs for aesthetics and stuff. But do any of you actually have sstos that you make and use commercially or are your favorite? This is one of mines.

Max payload is 4 tons/20 mass (although can lift more, if I authorize it)

It is used to deliver cargo to my space station in LKO.

It uses a single stage to gain inclined orbit, then another stage separates when in orbit, which tugs the cargo the way to my station, it is expendable.

Its called the Smizore V2

What are the stats of yours?

Edited June 5, 2014 by Tortoise

[RoboRay]

I have three favorite SSTOs...

Cobra:

(A 15-seat passenger spaceplane)

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Hercules:

(A vertical-launch/horizontal-landing heavy cargo-hauler)

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Javelin:

(a two-seater spaceplane for orbital crew-swaps)

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The first two are designed for FAR. The little two-seater is an older design for the stock atmosphere. Functional parts like propulsion and wings are all stock.

Edited June 5, 2014 by RoboRay

[SofusRud]

This thing:

the Kylon

Can put 19 tons of payload into orbit. probably more but i haven't tested it yet. Super stable in atmo

I've built an entire space station using this SSTO almost exclusively

[Pipcard]

The Symphony-10t is boosted by nine Toroidal Aerospike Rockets, can lift about 10 tons of payload into Low Kerbin Orbit, and (with Mechjeb) lands precisely back at Kerbal Space Center.

[Jouni]

I have three favorites in different categories.

This one was fun to build and fly. With basic jets, reaching orbit felt suitably challenging, and the low payload fraction meant that I had to remove almost all noncritical components. A later version sacrificed IVA views for a Mk2 cockpit and a docking port.

This utility tug was powerful and flexible and ended up in many ridiculous situations. It was a bit hard to fly without payload, because it tended to climb way too fast. After an unsuccesful habitation module delivery to my Laythe colony, it pushed the payload back to space, and then did quick suborbital docking before circularizing. It ran out of fuel before managing to intercept the space station, so the station had to come down to rendezvous with the ship.

This fuel tanker is probably the best example of my functional SSTO design. It takes off vertically, delivers an orange tank and a big RCS fuel tank to a 120 km orbit, and does a parachute-assisted powered landing. The tanker is powered by 8 turbojets and 4 RAPIERs.

[LaytheAerospace]

I'll have to wait until I get home for pictures, but my favorite (so far) is my Space Truck Mk-II. It's a small one-man spaceplane, has excellent flight characteristics and can reach a 650x650 orbit from Kerbin without refueling. It has a fully articulating arm with a winch on the end, for performing rescue missions and more importantly, engine swaps (most of my spaceplanes can swap engines as necessary). Lands easily, with numerous successful landings going uphill on uneven terrain and no fatal landing accidents since retiring the Mk-I.

I keep one in orbit, fueled up and ready to go, so I can remotely fly it to any disabled ship, dock to it with or without a docking port, and either push it somewhere safe or if there's just one Kerbal, hop in and fly back.

[magnemoe]

120 ton to LKO, test payload on top, has the option to add up to 12 large SRB who return by parachutes to increase payload to 200 ton to LKO.

7 man SSTO, escape system is based on Dragon 2, it can also lift 11 ton to LKO if used unmanned.

[Spartwo]

Nothing special but I like the Razor the most.

[Moar Boosters]

This one is my favorite.

It's a VTOL capable of a return Duna mission without the use of parachutes.

It's quite a unique craft....... as it takes of vertically, but it's aerodynamically stable for horizontal flight to build up speed like a runway launched plane.

[Taki117]

I think this is my Favorite. It single handedly put up my Keo-stationary Communication Network and built about 80% of my current Space Station. I also have a Crew Variant that ferrys 6 kerbals to and from My space Station, and a Telescope repair variant that performs repairs and upgrades to my Farseer Space Telescope (Cacteye space telescope mod)

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[LordFjord]

Favorite SSTO is hard...

I had a lot of fun and success in career mode with this one:

Otherwise, my affordable space program entry SSTO:

Could build it way more effective now

Of my heavy SSTOs, this one's the most successful. It has a detachable claw-tug as a front and 4 cargobays (each with 18 tons of fuel here). I am lacking the time to use it effectively for a project, so far it only did test flights to orbit and back to KSC. Part counts beyond 600 make my PC scream in agony:

[ecat]

It's almost a year old now and I've no idea if it will work with the latest KSP but my favourite is still my B9 based SLU

Six jumbos to orbit for those times when 5 jumbos are simply not enough

More info and pictures here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/33503-Show-off-your-B9-Designs%21?p=508910&viewfull=1#post508910

[problemecium]

Since pretty much everything I make is an SSTO, I'd have to say all of them. I use different ones for different purposes, e.g. the SSTO crew shuttle for, er, crew shuttling, the SSTO lift rocket for, um, lifting stuff... you get the idea xP

[Hodo]

I have three that are my favorites.

SP-406 my heavy lifter at 108tons.

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SVO-25 Bison II my medium lifter VTOL.

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And,

ASP-3 SSTO Strike craft.

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[Voculus]

The Beak of Darkness! It can only carry a very tiny payload, such as this Kethane scanner, but it's as space and airworthy as they come.

[Overfloater]

My Astroliner VI "Venera" is my main workhorse for every occasion!

-There's a regular variant, to deliver 10 ton payloads to Mun & Minmus

-Long-range variant for 10t payloads to Duna (Not tested on Laythe)

-Supertanker / Tug for hauling asteroids, and rescuing other ships

-Heavy LKO lifter, for 54 ton payloads to Low Kerbin Orbit. Now I don't even feel like designing a lifter for my payloads xD Whenever I need to deliver ANY kind of payload, I take this plane.

The ship consists of 433 parts, just low enough to be playable!

[Climberfx]

This is my personal favorite SSTO, One of the Star Series.

[Rune]

Hands down, the White Dart. I'm still coming up with new versions:

Rune. Grab it from my sig's link to R-SUV!

[O-Doc]

I can't decide. Each of my crafts have a particular role and they excel at their assigned jobs. Here's my favourite 3rd generation CTOL heavy fighter, the Kestral. Masterful handling, solid range with nearly 6km/s@LKO using the range extension kit and very generous weapons bays to boot. An all round balanced, powerful craft.

[Cupcake...]

Is it wrong to have a favourite? Anyway, here's mine, originally forged in .19 and still going strong.

Enjoy!

Cupcake...

Scythe MK 4 (.23.5)

MK 2 (.21)

Edited June 7, 2014 by Cupcake...

[LethalDose]

I think I've finally designed an SSTO I'm happy with. I've dubbed this the Odin M2A2:

It sports a full suite of science instruments and a small communicatron. It has dorsal, aft, and ventral docking ports to allow easy docking given most approaches and targets. I think they may also be useful transferring small amounts of gear (e.g. small rovers, supplies, or beacons) to the surface of Laythe.

The best part of this vessel is that it's just sooo stable in the atmospheric flight! I can use time warp while in flight in almost any situation. It turns and climbs extremely well, too. I think the trick to getting the flight to be so stable is the "underslung" fuselage design. I've seen it used in several designs, but this was the first time i tried it. Whoever I stole it from, thanks! I would credit you if I remembered who it was. I've strutted the crap out of it, too, so the neck stays rigid in flight. I've even landed it! Once in the desert (my deorbit burn was early, and I didn't feel like flying to KSC), and once juuuuuuust before the runway. I think it's also got a great silhouette.

It can get to a circular 250 km orbit around Kerbin without problem. The only issue I've had with the orbital insertion is that when the air gets very thin, it has a tendancy to yaw. I think the starboard engine tends to get airstarved and causes assymetric thrust. It can't reach Minmus without refueling at LKO, and will probably need to dock with a small nuclear stage at Minmus to make it to Jool. But I'm hoping it will perform well when it gets there.

My next goal is to adapt it to transport 2 passenger Kerbals to or from a station in LKO (probably around 250 km)

[Transits]

Favourite SSTO?

Overfloater's andromeda spacecraft

[Scarecrow88]

I've just built this one in the last day or so. Design brief was for a craft to shuttle crew to and from the station in Kerbin orbit, which it does quite happily.

[gre8]

Well, these are my spaceplanes. The small one is called Wolfie and the big one is - fittingly - called Behemoth.

Wolfie is a real shuttle, able to carry 28 happy Kerbals to Space; an obscene number by any space agency standards. If flown correctly to orbit, it has some 2000d-V to spare, so it can pretty much reach anywhere within Kerbin's SOI.

Behemoth is my heavy cargo plane. It can easily carry space station parts into obits exceeding 200km

BTW, they are supposed to fly with FAR.

Edited June 11, 2014 by gre8
Forgot description

[GeneralMDBK]

My favorite old SSTO would have to be my last one I did before working on SSTA's. Lol