Minimal Orbiter

[Bluejayek]

I contend that this is the smallest craft that is capable of achieves stable orbit. Further, if done properly I believe it capable of entering orbit and returning (unsafely) to the ground, thus preventing build up of space junk.

This is the entire craft.

Command capsule

Full LFT

Half LFT

Lander engine.

A few notes:

1) It is too heavy to initially take off as is. You have to let it sit until it burns off the top 10% or so of its first tank before it can launch.

2) The order of the tanks matters. Fuel in a full tank weighs 0.0044 per unit, while fuel in a half tank weighs 0.0042 per unit, as strange as that might sound. Therefore, you are better off burning the full tank first.

Here are some pictures from my successful orbit. Thanks goes to Romfarer and UmbralRaptor for their tips and suggestions on getting it into orbit, and credit goes to Romfarer for being the first to successfully launch it into orbit in the challenge thread http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=10172.15.

And we made it! Successful orbit! Too bad there\'s no return.