AstronautAdam
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(Mooncrasher)
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I think you can do a bit better, to make it more reliable. 
The main things standing out are that the external tank is huge in mass compared to the shuttle and it's payload. I'd say it should be at least half the width, and thus half the mass.
Secondly, the shuttle doesn't need so much fuel and engine for its size and payload. Looks like the frontier should be a valiant, and you don't really need the tail tank if you separate the main tank into forwards and back tanks where you can shuffle fuel for stability.
Ideally I would say the shuttle should be under 40t and the external tank should be under 100t for this kind of payload. You can lighten it by less shaping with tanks, more shaping with nosecones, side fairings and fairings.
Also it's possible to do the heatshield better.
In general for this size of shuttle the smallest heatshield (4-wide) is best, but you can use one 6-wide heatshield and put the side separator inside like so. That way it still separates, and the bit that remains is safely inside the heatshield and doesn't burn!
(You can still do the detaching heatshield thing you have if you do this)
(I liked that episode by the way)
The main things standing out are that the external tank is huge in mass compared to the shuttle and it's payload. I'd say it should be at least half the width, and thus half the mass.
Secondly, the shuttle doesn't need so much fuel and engine for its size and payload. Looks like the frontier should be a valiant, and you don't really need the tail tank if you separate the main tank into forwards and back tanks where you can shuffle fuel for stability.
Ideally I would say the shuttle should be under 40t and the external tank should be under 100t for this kind of payload. You can lighten it by less shaping with tanks, more shaping with nosecones, side fairings and fairings.
Also it's possible to do the heatshield better.
In general for this size of shuttle the smallest heatshield (4-wide) is best, but you can use one 6-wide heatshield and put the side separator inside like so. That way it still separates, and the bit that remains is safely inside the heatshield and doesn't burn!
(You can still do the detaching heatshield thing you have if you do this)
(I liked that episode by the way)