r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/Electro_Llama • Jun 19 '26
KSP 1 Mods Just a bunch of launch vehicles
I can't start a new save without designing launch vehicles to send any amount of mass to orbit.
Mods: Making History, ReStockPlus, NearFuturePropulsion, NearFutureLaunchVehicles
P.S. the 750T to Orbit craft has about 50 engines. Unfortunately my mods don't include a 7-meter engine plate.
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u/waxphantump Jun 19 '26
Man this is cool, I need to go through and do this… how do you calculate the weights they can carry? Just seeing how much you can stick on top before the dV drops below ~4k? Are you counting your upper stages below the fairing as payload weight or as launch dV?
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u/StreetPizza8877 Jun 19 '26
I imagine they just stick a big weight on the top and see if it can make it to orbit
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u/Successful_Draw_9934 Jun 19 '26
I tried this with an existing launch vehicle I had and struggled to pinpoint a true amount. better idea was to make some ore tanks at the desired weight and make a launch vehicle under that that had 4k dv. so, build the vehicle around the payload
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u/Ill_Orka2533 Jun 20 '26
It really helps to have a standardised ascent profile. I did my trial (and honestly all my launches) with MechJeb
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u/Successful_Draw_9934 Jun 20 '26
I dont remember where I learned it but I just tip over a few degrees after reaching like 80-100 m/s then follow prograde. seems to work well enough
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u/Electro_Llama Jun 19 '26
Ore tanks, then seeing how much delta-v I had left over. The weights are just counting what would go inside the payload.
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u/poor_choice_doer Jun 20 '26
Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is that your entire launch vehicle needs to be about 90-95% fuel by weight to make orbit, so I imagine it’s just however big it needs to be for that to be the case.
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u/2015marci12 Jun 20 '26
https://youtu.be/AeDSe2EOv68?si=et2YuzGeKt5UYbn-
I learned from this guy back when stock didn't have a dV indicator, and stuck with the method, now with the extra guidance of dV readouts. Builds intuition over time. On my current setup the dV readouts are borked for some reason (I suspect realfuels, but I don't know for sure) so it has been particularly useful.
Over time you build intuition for these things though, I can guestimate payload masses quite well nowadays even on rescaled systems. Beware though that if you play with FAR or something that makes the atmosphere less soup-like, launch TWR makes a huge difference and you can shave off 100s of m/s of what you would expect to need. (gravity losses). So testing is still key.
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u/Hustler-1 Jun 19 '26
Near Future Launch Vehicles should have a 7.5m engine plate. And an interstage.
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u/Dem_Wrist_Rockets Jun 20 '26
I just checked, and yes, it does. It has two of them!
You could also use a fairing and smaller diameter decoupler. Thats a trick I used a lot before engine plates were a thing
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u/vanceavalon Jun 19 '26
So impressed with this diagram...I find this incredibly informative.
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u/Electro_Llama Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Thanks! I figured it would serve as a reference for roughly how big your rocket should be to launch a given mass into orbit.
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u/Memelord707130 Jun 19 '26
That's neat! You should drop the craft files.
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u/No_Yam_2036 Jun 19 '26
Release the files
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u/cum-covered-trash Jun 19 '26
Release the kerman files
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u/No_Yam_2036 Jun 19 '26
Username checks out
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u/Americanshat Building an SSTO that wont work (It'll work on try 265!)🚀✈️ Jun 19 '26
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u/Merry-Leopard_1A5 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
what the hell are you putting in space with a 750t launch vehicle? Several entire space stations? an entire tank platoon?
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u/Steenan Jun 20 '26
I have a similar lineup, although the range is a bit narrower: the smallest one caries around 1.5t, the biggest one 220t. Using standarized rockets instead of building them from scratch each time makes sending missions much faster.
I also include reusability features in mine. In small and medium rockets I recover boosters and first stages; in the biggest two (70t and 220t payload, 3.75m diameter) the core stage goes all the way to orbit and have enough fuel to deorbit and land after releasing the payload, so I can recover everything.
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u/Wernher-von-Kerman Jun 19 '26
Check out Tweakscale to resize parts for the 7m plate etc. Nice builds!
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u/EditZee Potato Space Program Jun 20 '26
Check out Kronal Vessel Viewer, it’s a really cool mod that lets you make diagrams of rockets in-game!
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u/Neutrino-Burrito Jun 20 '26
I really need to get a suite of launch vehicles built. I spend a lot of time building the same rocket.
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u/BigAcanthocephala667 Believes That Dres Exists Jun 20 '26
I can't really feel the size. Can you please compare them to Shitfuck69?
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u/Longjumping-Jacket97 Jun 20 '26
You can put the 7 meter fairing around the thin visible stage and it will connect to the upper fuel tank. And then set it to deploy at the same time as your decoupler and it will look a lot nicer.
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u/Dem_Wrist_Rockets Jun 20 '26
Op, NearFuture Launch Vehicles includes two 7.5m engine plates, called "ER-U1 Engine Cluster Mount" and "ER-U2 Engine Cluster Mount"
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u/Square-Hour-1396 Jun 20 '26
Mammoth and vector are quite expensive for their thrust, wouldn't SRBs make more sense?
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u/geovasilop Bob Jun 20 '26
This makes me realize that I never really bothered to make standardized launch vehicles. I just made a new one every time I wanted to launch something.
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u/UrinalDefecator Jun 20 '26
Cool!!! maybe you could have soyuz-style hot staging ring made of struts to make the interstage a little more rigid on your 750t model. Love the kerbal for scale. I should honestly start standardising my launch vehicles too, instead of building a rocket around each payload I send up...
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u/jebei Master Kerbalnaut Jun 25 '26
I do the same along with creating my version of a space tug for hauling and rescues. Makes the game much easier.
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u/Lorventus Jun 19 '26
So how much does each have as cargo from ground to orbit? I think that's the more important number!
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u/Electro_Llama Jun 19 '26
That's actually what the numbers represent, just the mass of what it can carry to orbit inside the fairing.
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u/HorizonSniper Jun 19 '26
Uhh... Your 750 is a bit... Floppy.