Program Names?

[Sully805]

I'm just looking for ideas to name my rockets that have different objectives, for example I named my program that dealt with orbiting and collecting science from Kerbin the Renegade Program. And for Minmus I named the program Discovery. I'm just looking for some names to use to christen my new programs that are going to be heading to new and uncharted areas for me at least. Any ideas?

[StrandedonEarth]

The "Because it's there" program

The "Sagan" program

[Kowgan]

I got a few.

The Blue Kasket Series are ships designed to rescue kerbals in orbit around Kerbin.

Kerbollo were my first Mün trips, of course.

Kerveller are generic travellers for what I can't find a proper name, or aren't big enough to create a name series for it.

The Cleaner is a probe that orbits Kerbin looking for debris to deorbit.

The Sniffer Rover was a single rover made to explore Kerbin grounds, mostly for anomalies and checkpoints to be verified.

KSS, Kerbal Space Station;

KT-SS, Kethane Space Station (comes with a codename at the end depending on the body it's orbiting, eg Alpha, Bravo, etc.);

KMSB: Kassandra - Minmus Science Base (WIP);

And my first satellite sent out of kerbin SOI was the Parker 1: A satellite sent out to map Eve. The name was given in honour to the great photographer, Peter Parkerman.

[Sully805]

I have a few names, for example: "Outlaw", "Rebel", "Explorer". But I do like "Kerbollo" but I might switch it to Kerpollo for my Mun missions, in honor of Apollo of course.

[TimberWolffe]

My Munar missions are under the "Remember to brake before the ground does it for you", with some special missions under the "Bring enough fuel next time" mission banner.

Minmus missions are "why is the thing so blue" and "OH GOD I OVERSHOT WELL HELLO SOLAR ORBIT"

[HorusKol]

Yeah, decent (and original) names can be hard...

In the career mode, I used Crossbow for the series of rockets I built to meet all the contracts you get before you reach orbit.

Then, the Mun and Minmus missions were Silline (Selene coming from the Greek goddess the Moon and, well, silly).

My probe missions to Eve and Duna were named Valcan (can = probe, and from Vulcan = Roman god of fire).

The last series I built before having to format my computer and losing the career save were the Teincan probes (tin can) I had on the way to Jool and it's moons.

I think Greek and Roman mythology have some great names that can be riffed on - but there's a bunch of other sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_reporting_name#Lists_of_NATO_reporting_names

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Naming_conventions

Edit:

Oh, and of course - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NASA_missions#Manned_missions

[Mitchz95]

I like to use "explorer" names like Odyssey, Intrepid, Discovery, Horizon, etc. Sometimes I name individual ships after planets and moons, like Tylo or Minmus, or after deceased Kerbals. My current flagship is called the Ambassador, because it's the first true exploratory Kerbal spaceship.

[Levelord]

Mine is called Sailor Mun.

I'll let myself out...

[TimberWolffe]

Mine is called Sailor Mun.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16683090/KSP/Sailor-Mun.png

I'll let myself out...

That is brilliant oh my god

[Sully805]

I like to use "explorer" names like Odyssey, Intrepid, Discovery, Horizon, etc. Sometimes I name individual ships after planets and moons, like Tylo or Minmus, or after deceased Kerbals. My current flagship is called the Ambassador, because it's the first true exploratory Kerbal spaceship.

Me and you are on the same page, I like using explorer names, I've used Discovery. But I haven't thought of the other's that you have mentioned.

[Rainbow-Dashie]

Mine are named after how their test runs worked....

"KSS Crash and Burn"

"Looppy Loop"

"KSS No-Turn"

"PerfectionButWorkedToWellIDontTrustIt" (Later suffered engine malfunction sending it flying into the surface of Minmus... never again shall i use a rocket that passes the first test runs...)

"TURN UP!" (Has a tendency to want to fly straight down :/, also refered to as the "Turnip" )

[SRiley77]

Mine are traditional, and semi-boring (at least as compared to the above)

1 occupant capsules - Hephaestus Program

3 occupant capsules - Callisto Program

I haven't really been beyond these... so I'm not sure where I'd go from there.

[Umlüx]

Dunafish, on the way to Duna.

Maximus, to Minmus

JoolyJoker - Jool

Drestroyer - Dres

Mohawk - Moho

Adam - Eve

Eeloosive - Eeloo

and so on..

[Lord Nihilus]

And this is a call of a desperate person seeking attention from the all mighty internet....... so depressing.....

Offtopic and really uncalled for. If it was the case, something I seriously doubt by the way, do you feel good about yourself for making such a comment?

On topic, I usually go for the explorer(ish) names myself. Can't go wrong with Discovery

[Geschosskopf]

My actual space program, as in the entity that designs, builds, and flies the rockets, is almost always called the Kethane or Karbonite Travelling Circus.

This entity is based at KSC (Kerbin Social Corrections) facility and is a division of the overall KSP (Kerbin State Prison) system.

[Daffs]

Mine follow the simple rule of balance. Time thinking up a cool name VS Time building a successful craft.

Therefore all "cool" names have crashed and burned.

Successful missions have been:

'yet another SSTO'

'a silly one' (star destroyer SSTO)

'Big one' (Asparagus rocket)

'nuc 2' (First nuclear design craft...featuring two engines)

'nuc 6' (Second design...guess how many engines )

'Bah' (Crew transfer rocket when someone fogot to crew the lab)

'Liq Lander' (probably the most sensible and heavily tested ship designed for Laythe and return)

'SM Lander' (....erm Scott Manley Lander You might think you know better, but you don't and he's always right)

[Moss]

Most of my program names come from Slavic mythology.

[JayKay]

I try not to anguish more than 15 seconds for a name for a ship. Sometimes I have second thoughts later and rename them, but not often.

Right now in my present con/sci save I have:

Javelin: 1 or 2 stage size 2 boosters

Longshot: 1 or 2 stage size 3 boosters

Brutus: heavy 4 stage size 3 booster

CSMs are:

Orion: 3 man with small service module (name shamelessly stolen from NASA) for Kerbin system

Rigel: 3 man with large service module to act as fuel tender for stations as well

Vega: 3 man with engines on nacelles for landing cargo on Mun and Minmus

My stations are:

Unity (Kerbin)

Munity (Mun)

Minmus 1 (I think you can guess...)

Dunity (not yet built, but it's on the drawing board)

So far no big interplanetary expeditions have been launched, but I usually use a theme; haven't thought of one for this save yet.

Edited September 13, 2014 by JayKay

[Srpadget]

I usually have boring, utilitarian names. "Mun 1" or suchlike. But there are a few exceptions.

When I get to the point in any save where I'm building orbital infrastructure, the first two general-purpose tugs are ALWAYS named "Flying Dutchman" and "Fata Morgana".

Minmus seems to bring out the goofy in me (it's doubtless the EVA and Crew reports responsible for that). So my first crewed landing mission (long before I ever tried landing on Mun) was known as Project Minty Dessert. Later, once I'd mastered rendezvous/dock, there was the orbital station "Bill-n-Bob's All-Night Dessert Diner" with reusable landers "Julep" and "Key Lime". (Jeb had already claimed the Munar orbiting station and called it "Jeb's Gas-n-Go", so once again Bill and Bob are copycat also-rans.)

Mun lander names include Eagle and Armstrong. (Mun seems to inspire me, rather than make me giggle...)

Every save also eventually gets a transfer/refueling/construction station in LKO, generally with some variation on the theme of "Kerbin High Port".

And of COURSE I have used "Kerbpollo" (as does everyone).

Project Red Planet is pretty self-explanatory.

That's about it for interesting names. The rest are either prosaically descriptive (like "20-ton Lifter") or express my frustration ("Orbit or Bust V3c" was an early effort).

[peadar1987]

Mine usually go alphabetically, so they're nicely sorted in the VAB.

I've done a fair few different categories, animals, birds, towns in Ireland, beers...

The beers program was especially ill-fated. Eventually Fosters 6 managed to land on the Mun without exploding, tipping over, or running out of power. How no Kerbals were lost in this alcohol-fuelled endeavour is completely beyond me! (The Budweiser program was swiftly abandoned because it was rubbish. The Coors program was only marginally more successful)

[GreeningGalaxy]

My programs so far:

Rockets

Vela- The constellation depicting a sail, Vela has traditionally been the name for my long-range transit vehicle programs, starting with my first single-orange-tank missions to Eve and Duna and, since then, including vessels of all sizes designed to carry landers and bases to almost anywhere in the Kerbol system. The Vela program came up with my biggest heavy-lift launch vehicles to date, and nearly all of my current payloads use the Vela III or IV launch vehicle subassemblies.

Hermes- Mixing mythologies with Vela a little, the Hermes project began with my tinkerings with KSP Interstellar and consists of ships designed with roughly the same delta-V requirements as the Velas, but without the capability to carry landers around. Hermes ships are often relatively light and have enough TWR to land on most moons, and a KSPI Hermes was used in the first asteroid redirect missions in my game.

Sagittarius- My newest program using the Near Future Technologies mod, dedicated to the development of a very long-range transit vehicle designed to be reusable and fly multiple missions. Only two VASIMR-powered Sagittarii have flown so far; one is landed at Minmus with a nearly full fuel tank, while the other is on the surface of Vall, probably without enough fuel to return home.

Fornax- Named for the constellation of The Furnace. Fornax was my first serious launch vehicle and landing craft when I first started playing back in .19, and made my first landings on Minmus and the Mun, as well as serving as the Vela-dockable lander for my first excursions to Duna, Ike, Eve, and Gilly. By the time I figured out how to go to Dres or further, the old Fornax program had been replaced by the newer, but still very similar, Aquarius lander.

Argus- Using the Vela launch vehicle and the majority of the same transit-vehicle spaceframe, the Argus program launched a very large and complex (at least by my standards) station, Argus One, into Kerbin orbit back in 0.22.

Up Goer- Crap rockets that didn't start seriously but turned out to be interesting enough to save.

Spaceplanes

Sagitta- Included my first planes to get off the ground in the stock .19 game. Mostly were single-engine canard-configuration aircraft which eventually were fitted with parachute drop-probes to investigate the ocean and outlying islands near KSC. The name Sagitta is still sometimes used for small SSTOs in my current game.

Volans- My first serious spaceplane project and the first to launch an SSTO into low Kerbin orbit in my first save. The first iterations were nothing more than beefed-up Aeris 4A ripoffs, but the latest versions included massive KSPI nuclear-powered behemoths.

Stormsprit- By far my largest spaceplane program, Stormsprit began with a VTOL fighter project before being repurposed into designing long-range SSTOs. All-stock Stormsprits have made visits to Eve and the Mun, and have landed on Duna, Minmus, and Gilly.

Kestrel- The Kestrel project made SSTOs that were designed not only to get to orbit, but to get there fast. They had higher TWRs than anything I'd built previously, and typically attained speeds in excess of 2 kilometers per second before rocket handover. Kestrels had enough delta-V to make it to Minmus and back, but anything much further was essentially out of the question.

I guess I haven't come up with many other names to use since then, so there we have it. All my new stuff is just recyclings of names I've used for a long time.

[Commissioner Tadpole]

I name my programs after planets, whether they're stock or not. For example, the Mun program was for sub-orbital flights to get used to them. The Minmus program was for rendezvouing with a space station. The Sentar program was to reach the Mun and return.

[mdkendall]

I started off naming my ships after animals (mostly small mammals), then birds, but my imagination ran out so now I am just working my way through the NATO phonetic alphabet. The program gets the designator and the components have very literal names; Kilo Station comprises the Kilo Habitat Module, Kilo Science Module, Kilo Tugs, put in orbit by the Kilo 5-ton Launcher, and so forth.

[Lar-E]

My ships are generally named after food for orbiters (Ham-n-Cheese I, Burrito Grande); or flightless birds for landers (Emu, Ostrich, Kiwi). My space program is called 'Foops'; a contraction of the words 'Fudge'* and 'Oops'.

*The word is not actually 'fudge'.

[Godot]

I show an unmatched creativity when it comes to mission and spaceship names.

Missions to planets/moons get the name of the planet/moon together with [mission number] if manned or R[Mission number] if unmanned

Similarly for spaceship names.

Spaceships usually get [Target Planet/Moon] appended by [Version Number] for manned or R[Version Number] for unmanned ships