Crew Shuttle SSTO

[Scarecrow88]

With a small station in Kerbin orbit, I wanted an elegant looking craft capable of SSTO for crew rotation purposes. To that end, it needed to be able to carry 3 crew plus the pilot. Having used rockets in the past with the hitchhiker module for crew movement, I wanted to avoid the hitchhiker if I possibly could. This is the craft I ended up with.

It can get to Kerbin orbit following a standard SSTO ascent profile, but doesn't carry an abundance of fuel so will be a test for anyone who tends to fly inefficiently. The changing CofG as the fuel is used up tends to make it a bit pitch sensitive. I haven't found this to be a problem on the way up, but you need to be gentle on the elevator when returning if you want to avoid flipping it.

Action keys are simple; 1 toggles the rocket engine and 2 toggles the jet engines.

Crew Shuttle craft file

Edited June 13, 2014 by Scarecrow88

[Jeb Cubed]

Looks a bit like something vaos would make. Looks good I can't make an SSTO for the life of me

[LvL]

try replacing the rocket engine with an aerospike rocket, it's much better that the rocket engine.

[SofusRud]

try replacing the rocket engine with an aerospike rocket, it's much better that the rocket engine.

No, don't do that. At the altitudes where you would ignite the rocket engine, the ISP of the rocket is already close to max. TWR is more important at that stage, and that engine, I'm guessing LV-T45, is better. In fact I'd recommend switching to the LV-T30 instead.

[LvL]

No, don't do that. At the altitudes where you would ignite the rocket engine, the ISP of the rocket is already close to max. TWR is more important at that stage, and that engine, I'm guessing LV-T45, is better. In fact I'd recommend switching to the LV-T30 instead.

the faster you get with the jet engines, the less you have to burn with your rocket engines.

[SofusRud]

the faster you get with the jet engines, the less you have to burn with your rocket engines.

and you can go faster on the jet engines if you are carrying a lighter rocket engine. LV-T30 is lighter than the aerospike.

[Scarecrow88]

I have updated this design to run with the aerospike, and it works just as well as the original. People can download it and fit whichever rocket engine they prefer. I have also reconfigured the RCS thrusters, and the craft is much more balanced now when using RCS.