What design for a rocket that can send 4 landers into orbit?

[Roosterwing]

The title pretty much says it all, but I'll provide a bit more information. I am trying to send 4 landers at once to a space station in a 70,000m orbit around Minmus. The thing is those landers have a docking port on the top, which prevents stacking them one on top of another. Do you have ideas or designs that would allow me to do that?

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Thank you!

[sal_vager]

Hmmm, how about mounting them radially? The Rockomax Hubmax can be fitted with four docking ports or you could build outwards and hang the landers vertically, parallel to the rocket

[Scarecrow88]

You can still stack them one on top of the other, just right click the port and select undock to separate them.

[Wanderfound]

As mentioned above, landers and docking ports stack just fine:

If it's not clear from the picture, that's a space station with an integral lab/fuel store/LV-N, sitting on top of a Munlander (which has a docking port on top), sitting on top of an onion-staged booster.

If you're not connecting docking port to docking port, you can use decouplers just like you would anywhere else. Just make sure you flip the decoupler so the left-over bit desn't stay stuck to the port if it's below the decoupler.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Wanderfound

[cantab]

Unless you really want the aesthetic, use a standard instead of a shielded docking port, then you can stack them.

Also, you can attach any part to a docking port then in flight right-click the port and choose decouple, and it will release the attached part, no need for a separate decoupler.

[Wanderfound]

Unless you really want the aesthetic, use a standard instead of a shielded docking port, then you can stack them.

Also, you can attach any part to a docking port then in flight right-click the port and choose decouple, and it will release the attached part, no need for a separate decoupler.

I vaguely recall reading something that said that the innate decoupler-ish abilities of docking ports have shifted in and out of existence in different KSP updates. Is it tested and confirmed that the decoupler-free trick works in .25?

[Oafman]

I would mount them radially. Either use the long rectangular girders with cubic octagonals on the end to mount a docking port.

Or, if you care about aerodynamics or aesthetics, 4 of the big B9 cargo bays can be mounted around a girder. They look good and can fit 2.5m landers with a bit of a squeeze:

[mhoram]

I am trying to send 4 landers at once to a space station in a 70,000m orbit around Minmus. The thing is those landers have a docking port on the top, which prevents stacking them one on top of another. Do you have ideas or designs that would allow me to do that?

Have a look at my Lopac Lifters. Lopac 8 and larger are designed with a layer of thrust plates that you could use to attach 4 or more landers on top using the docking port.

[capi3101]

You should be able to stack the landers one on top of the other; only reason I can think of why you wouldn't be able to do that would be if there was something on the bottom of the lander that wouldn't allow an attachment (like an Aerospike engine, for example). If that's the case, the Hubmax idea would probably do you well, or perhaps sticking a quad of BZ-52s on the sides of the transfer stage and then attaching the landers to those. Maybe with a girder if they need to stick out a little bit. You'll have to strut the landers in place but that should be readily doable.

[Zylark]

Either way, stacking vertically, radially, or a 2x2 combination - just remember to provide plenty of support trussing. If it wobbles on the launchpad, it won't reach orbit

[Laie]

I vaguely recall reading something that said that the innate decoupler-ish abilities of docking ports have shifted in and out of existence in different KSP updates. Is it tested and confirmed that the decoupler-free trick works in .25?

It works. Otherwise, no payload would ever have left my cargo bay: I've got a docking port in the bay, attached to whatever mountpoint the payload presents -- usually the payloads' engine. Open bay, select port, decouple. Works.

[Wanderfound]

It works. Otherwise, no payload would ever have left my cargo bay: I've got a docking port in the bay, attached to whatever mountpoint the payload presents -- usually the payloads' engine. Open bay, select port, decouple. Works.

Cool, thanks.

[Kryxal]

I'd probably use separators instead of decouplers for a set of landers, just in case ... decouple node from the second lander to free the top one, then trigger the separator once suborbital.

[bakanando]

You could also put each lander on different sides of a Rockomax Hubmax Node.

[GoSlash27]

RoosterWing,

Why would they be unable to stack due to docking ports? Can you share a pic of the landers?

Best,

-Slashy