My reusable Falcon 9!

[8BitCosmonaut]

It already uses 3 engines but the middle one is a frontier engine. If you mean 3 Titan engines then I'll see what I can do.

I didn't use titan engines, they are absolute crap for space x style rockets, use rockets that are at least 250 Isp or higher.

 

[SupremeDorian]

I didn't use titan engines, they are absolute crap for space x style rockets, use rockets that are at least 250 Isp or higher.

It's too heavy to be lifted by any other engines. I could modify the blueprint to make them closer together so I can add more of them, but I don't want to do that right now.

 

[SupremeDorian]

Use 3 engines rather than just 2, usually your rocket with 10% of her fuel is more than light enough for just 1 RB-48 to land the stage. Use landing legs as grid fins rather than that mass of structure parts. Cut down your side docking ports from 2 to 1 to save on mass.

I actually use hidden solar panels as grid fins. Landing legs might work better, though.

 

[8BitCosmonaut]

It's too heavy to be lifted by any other engines. I could modify the blueprint to make them closer together so I can add more of them, but I don't want to do that right now.

Probably inefficient design.

 

[SupremeDorian]

Probably inefficient design.

I'm probably going to be remaking it at some point anyway.

 

[SupremeDorian]

I might try to "remaster" the rocket and mission at some point soon. Thoughts?

 

[Horus Lupercal]

I might try to "remaster" the rocket and mission at some point soon. Thoughts?

A payload forklift. There was some good ideas around a few months back from Danny and Snakestrike that worked really well for that kind of thing.

You can have the lift on one side, fuel on the other. Or create a hybrid fuel truck/lift system to re-fuel whilst you load the next satellite on

 

[SupremeDorian]

A payload forklift. There was some good ideas around a few months back from Danny and Snakestrike that worked really well for that kind of thing.

View attachment 10495

You can have the lift on one side, fuel on the other. Or create a hybrid fuel truck/lift system to re-fuel whilst you load the next satellite on

I could try that, but I might use someone else's forklift design as i'm terrible at making mechanical things in this game.

 

[Horus Lupercal]

I could try that, but I might use someone else's forklift design as i'm terrible at making mechanical things in this game.

Hmmm. How much fuel doth your Falcon need?

 

[SupremeDorian]

Hmmm. How much fuel doth your Falcon need?

Been awhile since i've even used the thing, so i'm unsure.

 

[Horus Lupercal]

Been awhile since i've even used the thing, so i'm unsure.

Roger le dodge.

Well i built a thing that may suit your needs.


I present to you, the Palletised Payload Lift System.

Comes in 2 sections. The Pallet carrier and the fuel/lift Truck.

Pallet Carrier

Completely modular and complex looking but it solves the problems of doors and landing leg lifts. Happily capable of wandering around with 90+ton payloads, dimensions of the pallet mean you can make it as wide as the biggest fairing and as tall as you like without modifications to the base system. Just plonk your payload on top and press go.

Fuel/Lift Truck

The brute of the pair. Will move under its own steam but at nearly 700t it doesn't like it much. However, when connected to the Pallet Carrier it'll make a good 5m/s across the pad.

Contains 549 tons of fuel and lots of RTGs to provide power/fuel re-supply whilst you're loading the pallet on board. I didn't know how much you needed but from the size and make up of the black fuel tower you were using I guessed 427.5 tons. Gives you some extras incase you decide to go bigger.

Speaking of going bigger, I left some play in the upper lift system and didn't fit any connectors to your rocket. So you can fit them yourself at whatever height you like and it will go another 8 or so squares up as well without adding more lifts. Just move the last stopper and extend the roof accordingly

Does it work? Yes. Yes it does.

 

[SupremeDorian]

Roger le dodge.

Well i built a thing that may suit your needs.


I present to you, the Palletised Payload Lift System.
View attachment 10561

Comes in 2 sections. The Pallet carrier and the fuel/lift Truck.

Pallet Carrier

View attachment 10560

Completely modular and complex looking but it solves the problems of doors and landing leg lifts. Happily capable of wandering around with 90+ton payloads, dimensions of the pallet mean you can make it as wide as the biggest fairing and as tall as you like without modifications to the base system. Just plonk your payload on top and press go.

Fuel/Lift Truck

View attachment 10562
View attachment 10563

The brute of the pair. Will move under its own steam but at nearly 700t it doesn't like it much. However, when connected to the Pallet Carrier it'll make a good 5m/s across the pad.
View attachment 10564

Contains 549 tons of fuel and lots of RTGs to provide power/fuel re-supply whilst you're loading the pallet on board. I didn't know how much you needed but from the size and make up of the black fuel tower you were using I guessed 427.5 tons. Gives you some extras incase you decide to go bigger.

Speaking of going bigger, I left some play in the upper lift system and didn't fit any connectors to your rocket. So you can fit them yourself at whatever height you like and it will go another 8 or so squares up as well without adding more lifts. Just move the last stopper and extend the roof accordingly

View attachment 10565

Does it work? Yes. Yes it does.

Thank you! I will make sure to credit you whenever I get around to doing it. Would it be possible to provide a BP file for the sake of convenience?

 

[SupremeDorian]

Also, I'm probably going to use that to lift the second stage and the payload because of the whole reusability thing.

 

[Horus Lupercal]

It should handle any height object you place onto it. Though you'll have to make the top of the first stage flat as the last bit of the pallet slides the load on. One of these days I'll build a fun house claw for lifting and dropping things.

But today is not that day.

 

[TtTOtW]

I am developing such a claw, though I'm still in the beginning stages. Will be a handy tool for my crane

 

[Horus Lupercal]

Aye, I think a proper one with a lift, lower, boom extend and retract functionality and a useable max capacity would look awesome.

 

[Aiden]

@TtTOtW @Altaïr @GuHP20

So, remember that Falcon 9 I made? Well, now it's reusable! The Soviets wanted me to send in their Sputnik Ultra payloads (don't tell them I said this, but they're pretty much exactly the same as the Sputnik-1)
Anyway, like I said, this one is reusable. And not reusable as in it can just land back on the launchpad, no, it can land back on the launchpad, refuel, and have another second stage put onto it.

The Journey

1: The Launchpad
View attachment 7154

2: Sputnik Ultra orbit
View attachment 7156

3: First Stage landed
View attachment 7157

4: Second Stage attached (With no gravity because I don't know how to make a way to attach the second stage without cheats)
View attachment 7158

5: First stage refueled to 88%. Due to this only going up to 88%, this second launch is expendable, but it was impressive enough already, I think.
View attachment 7159

6: Totally intentional refueling tower flip
View attachment 7160

7: Second Takeoff
View attachment 7161

8: Sputnik Ultra-2 Orbit
View attachment 7162

9: What's this? The Falcon 9 First stage can STILL be recovered? "'Tis but a fleshwound" - The Black Knight.
View attachment 7163

-End

Let me know what you all think!

Brings back memories from when i did this.. a long time ago

 

[Bananas]

The challenge?