Post your smallest, cheapest ship that can safely reach orbit and back here

[meat.]

Rules:

1 Full Stock
2 Feel free to add craft file, I just want a screenshot
3 Manned/droned, either is fine
4 No cheats
5 If ya can, clips of it flying would be greatly appreciated in case some people wish to ignore the rule above.

[Bwixie]

Do you have an example?

[meat.]

No because I'm bad at the game and nearly all my orbital ships are ridiculously expensive

[Chibbity]

*Waits for RoofCat to show up and provide an image of two paperclips held together by ducktape; that somehow gets to orbit and back*

[Purplefairy22]

I feel these "rules" haven't been well thought out.
several questions come to mind

1. Manned or drone ship?
2. Can you shed parts? SRB's etc
3. use infinite propellant?
4. how many people would cheat and just set an orbit using Alt f12?
5. How would you prevent that?
6. whats to say someone wouldn't clip the crap out of their ship?

[meat.]

Originally posted by Purplefairy22:

I feel these "rules" haven't been well thought out.
several questions come to mind

1. Manned or drone ship?
2. Can you shed parts? SRB's etc
3. use infinite propellant?
4. how many people would cheat and just set an orbit using Alt f12?
5. How would you prevent that?
6. whats to say someone wouldn't clip the crap out of their ship?

Good points, will fix dat

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by M A X I M U M T H O N K S:

No because I'm bad at the game and nearly all my orbital ships are ridiculously expensive

Oh well, in that case; smaller can definitely be better. A lighter ship takes less fuel and less power to move.

I'm always hesitant to catch a man to fish, instead of teaching him to fish. Were there any specific questions you had? If you really think it'll help you I could throw a small orbital rocket together as an example.

Are you opposed to modding your game? KER (Kerbal Engineer Redux) will help you understand the concept of Delta-V or "how far your rocket can go" and can be extremely useful in building an efficient design.

[meat.]

Originally posted by Chibbity:

Originally posted by M A X I M U M T H O N K S:

No because I'm bad at the game and nearly all my orbital ships are ridiculously expensive

Oh well, in that case; smaller can definitely be better. A lighter ship takes less fuel and less power to move.

I'm always hesitant to catch a man to fish, instead of teaching him to fish. Were there any specific questions you had? If you really think it'll help you I could throw a small orbital rocket together as an example.

Are you opposed to modding your game? KER (Kerbal Engineer Redux) will help you understand the concept of Delta-V or "how far your rocket can go" and can be extremely useful in building an efficient design.

Naw man, full stock all the way. My cheapest one is a cobbled toghether piece of trash, I just stuck more boosters and fuel on in science mode. can't think of any questions at the mo, but maybe later.

[Technicalfool]

Problem is that "cheap" and "small" can sometimes be at odds with each other. I'll assume that by "ship", you mean something capable of shipping something, like a kerbal, into orbit and back. Not just a probe core.

Cheap orbiter, at 5.3K.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398865783

But if you want to put down an extra 200-ish funds, you can go crazy and have an aero first stage.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398866684

Roughly 10 minutes spent on each. These really are simple craft. Entirely stock, not even a KER in sight. If you're willing to spend a lot more time on it, you can probably whittle this down to an even more smol QT craft.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398867422
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398867796

[Chibbity]

So, here's a rather quick and dirty example ship; with plenty of extra Dv to go to orbit and back.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398868626

You'll notice a basic rocket is composed of 3 stages.

The lift stage: Typically SRB's for good TWR ratio, albeit at poor efficiency.
The atmo stage: A middle ground engine like the Reliant that has both decent TWR and decent efficiency.
The orbital or "payload" stage: A good vacuum engine that has low TWR but very high efficiency like the Spark or Terrier.

Another good tip for basic rocket design is that a proper rocket looks like an arrow! Mass at the tip, long sturdy shaft, and fins at the back for drag/lift.

Aerodynamic control surfaces are also helpful, especially if you are new to flying rockets. With experience and increased expertise in rocket building you can eventually move beyond needing them, but I find them to be a quick and effective solution to any wayward rocket.

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by Technicalfool:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398867796

No heatshield TF?! *Gasps*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twJ1fzE_La4

[AoD_lexandro]

Ah one of these challenges.

Here is my version. Albion 2

8135 credits, 18 parts.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398887322

[doum]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1395143205

[andylaugel]

Here is a small orbiter I built on the fly. I don't doubt there is room for improvement, but it works. I'll admit I was aiming more for "smallest" than "cheapest" here. There is a difference between the two.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398927782
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398927835
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1398927891
4.479t, 5,442 funds. Lighter but more expensive than the previous entry.

[RoofCat]

2925$
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=749940121
remove monoprop for these savings. You may also have to keep Thumper on for longer to profit from inertia in drag. And go quite fast right from the start. Not sure what were the thrust settings on Thumper - probably full, but you may have to test a few. As fast as you can without blowing up is the solution. If you need additional tilt at start, use launchpad "bowl" surface property - move rocket slightly west in VAB, to tilt it east during launch. Dive sooner using MK1 SAS (in advance) than tutorial suggests, as SRB have crazy straightening thrust closer to the end and you won't be able to have dive there at all while you do need horizontal speed most.
This is 2 years old. Some small adjustments may be needed.

If you land it close to KSC, the costs were ~1400$. Or 1600? Can't remember which was costs and which - salvage).
You can have even slightly lower costs per flight (1000..1200 iirc) using simple SSTO Rapier plane landed on Runway, but the build price will be much higher - 15k something. All you lose is cheap fuel in this case. Add mobile mining station next to the runway and have it at 0$ costs and some 20ooo extra on build price. You can actually make the costs negative - launch empty and then retank after landing before salvage to make money from extra fuel.

Manned is often cheaper due to the ridiculous price of MK1 and integrated quite powerful free SAS. Also no heat shield required and great aerodynamics by default.

[CrazyGez]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1399043580

only 8k and can hold 3 people