KethCo Mining Fleet. Mine 'em fields o' green!! (Kethane+KAS)

[Rune]

While not exempt of critique and often accused of monopolistic practices, the Kethane Corporation (often abbreviated to KethCo) has emerged as the undisputed leader in off-world fuel prospecting, mining, refining and supply. Their hugely successful business models revolves around a small number of highly flexible multipurpose vehicles leveraging cutting edge technology to provide an organic solution that addresses the customer's needs while minimizing both capital and recurring investments. We swear we didn't copy that last part out of their brochure, and we totally understand what all those buzzwords mean.

KethCo. Long Range Prospector "Far Star"

To this day criticized as "a toy for rich kids with little practical use" the Far Star class of SSTA spaceplanes employs nonetheless the latest in aerospace technology, from a wingform in part copied produced under license from the hugely successful White Dart series from R-SUV, modified with a new tailplane for increased stability and control during varying fuel loads (don't expect them same smooth handling though, for some reason it is a bit too maneuverable still). Thanks to the ion propulsion the Far Star is true to its name, being capable of going pretty much anywhere (Tylo and Eve being the obvious exceptions), refueling there, and making it back home. All official public KethCo documentation states that it is used to scout deposits before investing into a full fledged operation involving stations and miners, as well as being capable of operating out of atmospheric bodies like Laythe or Kerbin that are barred to the nuclear heavy VTOL miners, but at this time rumors persist that the CEO just wanted a cool joyride to brag about. The cramped conditions that make longs trips inadvisable reinforce this opinion, but KethCo officials usually counter that the craft is intended to be deployed unmanned and is only "optionally piloted". Still, famous pilot Jebediah Kerman has publicly stated that he "would really glad to take this for a spin of Jool's moons...". Scientists at KethCo are still working hard at the production of snacks from kethane.

The airbreathing powerplant is another engineering marvel, a turbo-augmented RAPIER custom engine offering both stupendous atmospheric thrust, flameout protection, a hybrid, low-air-bypass, LOX-augmented high thrust mode for the climb out of the atmosphere, and enough rocket power to handle Duna. A couple of KAS containers round up its capabilities by offering both small cargo capacity, the ability to refuel other surface assets through the use of pipes, and even carry enough components to build a minimal escape craft around a RCS tank with RCS thrusters and parachutes (which can also be fitted on the ship for an easier Duna landing).

DOWNLOAD:

http://www./download/8aak8byultbmcn7/KethCo+Scout.craft

KethCo. General Purpose Miner "Grunt"

Often called "a thirsty rocket's best friend" by veteran kerbonauts, this functional, no frills vehicle is the cornerstone of KethCo mining operations. With a solid nuclear powerplant and sporting full refining capabilities for ISRE (In Situ Refining and Extraction) operations. The idea is to loft full tanks into orbit for stockpiling into stations if the gravity well is low enough, or else the highest possible fraction of fuel. Comes equipped with two independent, RCS-powered scanner probes to perform detailed surveys of the deposits, so it is capable of independent operations in far flung places, as well as being able of performing surface support thanks to a KAS winch. It is usually the vehicle used to deploy the stations, as well as ferrying the fuel modules around, making it a true swiss knife and the essential center piece of KethCo's very successful mining enterprise.

Note the unusual launch scheme. It lifts with an insufficient booster, one of my standards fuel tanks attached (the Jr. lateral ports make them stackable laterally, allowing the stockpile of humongous amounts of fuel in a compact and sturdy manner), and a skipper chemical engine attached to it. Plus, it's pointing backwards on top of the rocket. The reason is mostly aesthetics, but this way, if you are have a bit of practice, you will be able to take a significant portion of the fuel tank to orbit. The trick is to decouple the skipper once you have enough speed (~1,700-1,800m/s) and have burned enough of the fuel that the nukes' much lower T/W (barely enough for Duna) can take you the rest of the way to orbit much more efficiently.

DOWNLOAD:

http://www./download/0xm381vgyih1eyj/KethCo+Miner.craft

KethCo. Mobile Multipurpose Depot "High Ground"

The standard logistics hub of the KethCo Corporation, this multipurpose station module serves as a home base to mining operations throughout the system, orbiting kethane-rich moons being exploited and stockpiling tanks of refined rocket fuel to serve as a gas station and distribution center for nearby operations, be they military or civilian. While only having modest tanking capabilities by itself, it can self-ferry a short distance on ions, is equipped with full refining capabilities, and enough docking port flexibility to ensure you have always at least an available docking port of each size with abundant clearance. Nominal fuel stockpile is achieved through the use of standardized fuel tanks, while the on board fuel supply is best reserved for emergencies and self-ferry (by converting the kethane tanks' contents into xenon, I don't even know how far you could take this on ion power... it would be a boringly long ride, though).

DOWNLOAD:

http://www./download/u35cpovxipbv8pj/KethCo+Station.craft

Rune. Bringing back the skunkworks with a bang!

Edited June 8, 2014 by Rune

[Startreader]

Oh wow, um...this gives me some ideas for my Minmus Kethane base...if you don't mind I'll just stea-um I mean COPY many of your designs...yeah...Copy

[Rune]

Oh wow, um...this gives me some ideas for my Minmus Kethane base...if you don't mind I'll just stea-um I mean COPY many of your designs...yeah...Copy

Haha, no worries! Feel free to grab the files to see how I put them together... they are quite complicated builds, so you can learn fancy tricks the way I did.

Rune. Imitation being the best form of flattery and such.

[Halban]

Yay! HatBat made a fighter out of Mr.Rune's kethane plane of space. (Scribbled in crayon on the back of the picture)

[Rune]

Yay! HatBat made a fighter out of Mr.Rune's kethane plane of space. (Scribbled in crayon on the back of the picture)

http://i.imgur.com/uDzC2cX.jpg

Haha! Good one! You didn't take much from the orginal, but I'm glad you liked the diamond wing trick. But ain't that a wee too much RCS?

[Halban]

Haha! Good one! You didn't take much from the orginal, but I'm glad you liked the diamond wing trick. But ain't that a wee too much RCS?

There's no such thing as too much RCS on a space fighter. I plan to put this on a carrier

That means this thing is going to be doing not much more than docking, undocking, docking, undocking etc. Oh, and alot of using RCS to get across a battlefield.