Want to build a spacestation...How?..

[sam1133]

i now have the heavy lifter rockets etc...and want to do some station building in orbit round kerbal...but my mind goes blank as to what to send up first..which way does a docking part fit on a module so it will connect to another docking module...how high do i put the orbit...what is high orbit and low orbit...and what piece do you start with for other bits to add on to.

i know i'm a dumbo...sorry, but i see pics of all these brilliant orbiting stations you peeps have made, and my brain thinks...how the !!!!

thank you

sam

Edited October 22, 2014 by sam1133

[Pecan]

Chapter 7 (and 8, to an extent) of the tutorial in my signature if you want to see what I recommend.

You build a space-station exactly the same way you build anything else; start with a command pod or probe core and stick whatever you like on it. The only difference between 'a rocket' and 'a space-station' is that the station is meant to stay in orbit indefinitely. You will certainly want batteries and solar-panels, possibly RTGs.

If you haven't used docking ports yet though I'd recommend you practice that with small ships first (eg; Chapter 5). The standard and juniour ports fit pretty sensibly but the senior can be tricky as it looks pretty much the same from both sides - make sure you fit it with little window on the outside.

'Low' orbit is pretty much just outside the atmosphere (70km) - most people use 70-75km. 'High' orbit is, technically, geo-stationary (in KSP; Kerbin-stationary or whatever other body you're orbiting) or higher - that is, the orbital period (time it takes for a complete orbit) is the same or longer as the rotation period of the Earth (whichever KSP planet/moon you're orbiting). More accurately known as a synchronous orbit this is attractive for communications satellites, but is only really relevant in KSP with RemoteTech or another mod. All that said, in practice most people in KSP usually say 'high orbit' meaning 'anything significantly above low orbit'.

[sam1133]

ok, thank you for your help, going now to your tutorial pages..thank you.

[Franklin]

Regarding your, what I assume were questions:

1. Send up your centre module and builder tug first. A centre module is just what all the other modules you send up later will connect to, so make it heavy and secure. Typically people just throw 6 clamp-o-trons onto a hubmax and connect that to some habitat part and call it a day.
   
2. Your builder tug is going to be a tiny drone ship [usually] powered completely by RCS. It doesn't have to be pretty, this is just gonna be your "hand" up there with you're moving modules in and out. This is a good example of a bare-bones tug.
   
3. The "normal" and "small" docking ports are pretty obvious which the connecting face is, but the seniors can confuse people. Thankfully the wiki page explains which side is correct.
   
4. Given the only real function of a station in KSP right now is a gas station, you're going to have to ask yourself where in the Kerbin SOI would a gas station be best placed. Most people claim it's around Minmus, but basically it boils down to being far enough away from Kerbin to matter, but not too far that it itself becomes a burden to get to. I usually have one floating around 600K~ as that's where I can timewarp as fast as I'd like. I'd consider 100K or lower "low" orbit.
   

Best tips I can give:

• Modular, modular, modular. Every wing and module should be able to be separated from the others. Throwing up modules that can't be easily sub-sected will make for a headache because, unlike rockets and planes, you can't test maneuverability and compatibility until it's all together in the sky, and you can't just land it if it's not working out, so make it so you can remove modules and move modules around. Docking ports are your best friend.
  
• Docking ports connect like jello right now. It's awful. So Sr. docking ports are ideal, but obviously not always an option so just try to avoid Jrs. unless you don't have a choice.
  
• Don't try to lift everything at once, it's a pain. Bring it all up in parts. It's more rewarding and logistically less of a headache.
  

Edit: I strongly recommend ferram's joint reinforcement mod for station building.

Edited October 21, 2014 by Franklin

[sam1133]

Franklin...thank you..exactly what i needed...thank you so much..bless you

[Zylark]

General rule, as to keeping with KSP rules of speeding up things...

Around Kerbin you want a station placed neatly between 120km and 240km up. Those are the boundaries between levels of time warp you can employ. The higher timewarp you can use, the less time sitting around twiddling thumbs as you wait for your vessel to line up a transfer to your station.

A very low orbit station is all well and good with regards to dV, but gets very tedious very fast with regards to time spent in-game doing nothing but looking at the time to maneuver node counting down.

Let's face it, most of us will sacrifice dV in abundance for saving some real time. So do yourself a favor right now, and place your station at about 200km orbit around Kerbin. That way, going up, aim for an orbit of 150, you spend less than an actual minute getting a good transfer. Or coming in from say Mun, aim for an orbit of 250-300, and again spend less than a minute a good transfer.

dV is over-rated. Real-Time is more important!

[Starwhip]

My signature tutorial has a sample station to build. Lifters are included.

Check it out.

[Franklin]

Forgot to mention: Klaws have become perfect tug tools. Before you'd have to slap on Jr docking ports for tugs to move things around but a Klaw can snap to anything. All your tugs should use a Klaw instead of a port at this point, it makes for more liberal station design.

[cantab]

Considering the limited actual use of stations in the stock game, you may as well build something that looks cool. Ring stations are always neat albeit tricky to build. Big solar booms with multiple gigantors, though kind of unnecessary, look the part. That kind of stuff.

[Axelord FTW]

As people pointed out, Sr. docking ports are the way to go.

Still, regular docking ports are also important. I recommend KAS for the ability to add struts on the go (plus all the other cool stuff).

[Zylark]

Yes, wait until getting the Docking Port Sr if playing career. You can use the regular docking ports to hook up your station, but to make it rigid enough you'll then need to stiffen it up with Kerbal Attachment System struts or similar. That just adds a lot of parts, and the very last thing you want on a station is a lot of parts. To run smoothly - especially when docking some vessel to your station - you want to keep parts count as low as practical.

As have been mentioned, modularity is important. If you got some super reliable lifter capable of throwing hundreds of tons into orbit, then by all means use it. I however tend to limit my launches to the lowest mass I can get away with. For station-building right now, that means 45 Tons or less (of payload) per launch.

Not gotten all that far in station building in my current career, but some simple functionality in permanent orbit have been installed:

My Kerbin Research Station. Three modules so far. The habitation and docking module to the left, Science module in the middle and to the right fuel and utilities. Docked to it is a big tug to place and dock some heavy parts that is soon to be launched and an unmanned fuel and supplies ship. The station is parked at 200km altitude from Kerbin.

It got assembled left to right. First launch was the habitation module, that includes through mods a heavy command module with in-built some serious torque reaction-wheel/SAS. Also got a three-way hub of docking ports for visiting ships to dock at. Next I sent up the Science modules together with the tug that docked it to the Hab module. Then came the fuel and supplies module. That got sent up dry to save mass at launch. Docked it to the station using the tug.

Around Mun I got this thing zipping around in a 70km orbit:

Basically there just to use the Kolony Logistics part attached to it. That thing scoops up LFO from my Mun Karbonite mining and refining 'base' (it's just one big rig landed down there so far) and dumps it in the fuel tank ready for pick up. Same procedure as the Kerbin station. Hab module came first, then the Fuel and Logistics moduel - sent up dry. However as I have no tug at Mun Station, I fitted the last stage of the lifter that got it to orbit and then transferred it to Mun with a bit of RCS in order to dock it.

Next up is building a Science Station around Minmus. I got contracts adding up to at least 3 million that requires such a thing, plus a ton of Minmus biomes not yet visited to which a Station nearby would help greatly in speeding up getting that done. But since I don't intend to have a permanent station around Minmus, I'll probably later disassemble most of it and haul the various modules to a more interesting location, like say Duna or Jool.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Zylark

[Johnny Wishbone]

'Low' orbit is pretty much just outside the atmosphere (70km) - most people use 70-75km. 'High' orbit is, technically, geo-stationary (in KSP; Kerbin-stationary or whatever other body you're orbiting) or higher - that is, the orbital period (time it takes for a complete orbit) is the same or longer as the rotation period of the Earth (whichever KSP planet/moon you're orbiting). More accurately known as a synchronous orbit this is attractive for communications satellites, but is only really relevant in KSP with RemoteTech or another mod. All that said, in practice most people in KSP usually say 'high orbit' meaning 'anything significantly above low orbit'.

The game actually defines low and high orbit by biome. Below 70km is atmosphere which makes orbits impossible. At 70km, the atmosphere disappears and you are in "near Kerbin" space, aka "low orbit". At 250km, the biome changes to "high above Kerbin" aka "high orbit". So, low orbit would be anything between 70km and 250km and high orbit would be anything above 250km (until you reach escape velocity and leave Kerbin's SOI).

[Pecan]

The game actually defines low and high orbit by biome...

Thank you. My ignorance of science/career mode has been a little reduced :-)

[sam1133]

thank you everyone...your very kind.

[KBluey]

Here's an alternative way to think about a station. I use what I call a "backpack ship" for most missions; it's just a generic vessel core that has comfortable accomodation and workspace for the Kerbals, fuel tanks, nuclear engines and a bunch of docking ports of different sizes, positioned so it can haul many different loads without getting unbalanced. Designing this vessel was a really interesting challenge so I won't spoil it for you by posting a picture :-). I re-use this vessel for multiple missions, and just attach whatever landers or probes or bases I want for that particular contract or science expedition. When the backpack ship returns from its mission, it sits in orbit at 121km while I use spaceplanes to bring up a fresh crew and more fuel, to bring the used landers and science experiments back down to Kerbin for science and recovery value, and to bring up new landers and probes for the next mission. So while the backpack ship is between missions, it's effectively a space station, but it's being built up piece by piece so it's ready for the next mission. This is a way to create a space station that's useful for more than just dumping fuel.

[KBluey]

Here's an alternative way to think about a station. I use what I call a "backpack ship" for most missions; it's just a generic vessel core that has comfortable accomodation and workspace for the Kerbals, fuel tanks, nuclear engines and a bunch of docking ports of different sizes, positioned so it can haul many different loads without getting unbalanced. Designing this vessel was a really interesting challenge so I won't spoil it for you by posting a picture :-). I re-use this vessel for multiple missions, and just attach whatever landers or probes or bases I want for that particular contract or science expedition. When the backpack ship returns from its mission, it sits in orbit at 121km while I use spaceplanes to bring up a fresh crew and more fuel, to bring the used landers and science experiments back down to Kerbin for science and recovery value, and to bring up new landers and probes for the next mission. So while the backpack ship is between missions, it's effectively a space station, but it's being built up piece by piece so it's ready for the next mission. This is a way to create a space station that's useful for more than just dumping fuel.

[Claw]

There is a whole thread dedicated to space station pictures if you need some ideas. Many people even break down their ships to show how they build.

Here is one of my larger stations:

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Cheers,

~Claw

[capi3101]

There are some good tutorials out there on station building. The wiki's got tutorials on how to build replicas of the Salyut stations - including Mir. The ISS tutorial on the wiki is lacking, though; you might be able to look at it for lifter designs. And then Tex_NL has a good tutorial for ring-shaped space stations in his signature. Something that looks like this...

Honestly, for your first rodeo I'd suggest Salyut 1. It's functional and the design is simple.

[Oafman]

snip

Zylark, in your Mun station, what mod gives you the 3.75m cylindrical habitat part which you have attached to the NF command pod?

tks

[Zylark]

...what mod gives you the 3.75m cylindrical habitat part which you have attached to the NF command pod?...

If memory serves right, that is from the Stockalike Station Parts mod.

[Oafman]

If memory serves right, that is from the Stockalike Station Parts mod.

Thanks. For some reason I've never looked at that mod much, but it appears to have some useful parts, and I am a huge fan of Nertea's other stuff, so, installing

[phantom000]

I am getting ready to build my first station as I am designing the different modules I wonder what to do with the 'junk' that is all the parts that you don't need once it is attached. Things like the RCS thrusters, the reaction wheel, the propellant tanks, once the module is in place why would i need them?

I want to attach a power module and all that would need is four solar panels and a docking port. So would it be better to make it its only little ship, with RCS, probe core and everything and leave all that attached? Or would it be better to send it up in a cargo bay and have a tug attach it to the station?

[Tex_NL]

13 minutes ago, phantom000 said:

I am getting ready to build my first station as I am designing the different modules I wonder what to do with the 'junk' that is all the parts that you don't need once it is attached. Things like the RCS thrusters, the reaction wheel, the propellant tanks, once the module is in place why would i need them?

I want to attach a power module and all that would need is four solar panels and a docking port. So would it be better to make it its only little ship, with RCS, probe core and everything and leave all that attached? Or would it be better to send it up in a cargo bay and have a tug attach it to the station?

Keep all the parts you do not want on your station attached to the lifter. Dock the module, stage off the lifter (Make sure it has some fuel left AND a command node!) and de-orbit the lfter.

But as always the very best way to self-answer questions like this is to just go for it and experiment. Do NOT be afraid to fail because it's guaranteed sooner or later you will.

P.S.
No. I did not fall for a 28 month necro-bait.

[Spricigo]

Another option it's to use KAS to remove (or EL recycling) unwanted parts after you dock each module to use it later/in another vessel. 

[Aegolius13]

23 hours ago, phantom000 said:

Things like the RCS thrusters, the reaction wheel, the propellant tanks, once the module is in place why would i need them?

Depends on your playstyle, but I rotate my space stations all the time to facilitate docking.  If you plan to do the same, I'd suggest building all necessary reaction wheels into your station rather than dropping them once the station is situated.