Search results

  1. francisdrake

    Project Helios Kick-Stage

    The company Impulse Space is developing a 14 ton Methan / LOX kick-stage called Helios. It shall lift a 5 ton payload from LEO to GEO within a day, speeding up the deployment of satellites and saving their on-board fuel. When used on a Falcon9 it can help to retain the booster, thus lowering...
  2. francisdrake

    Project Delta-V Novel

    DELTA-V is a techno-thriller by Daniel Suarez about a team of adventurers who launch the first deep space mining operation. This project is to create the ships and scenarios in Orbiter. The first step is to set up the stage. The zip-file contains the asteroid Ryugu. Please note, a line needs to...
  3. francisdrake

    OHM Tenacity Dream Chaser

    francisdrake submitted a new addon: Tenacity Dream Chaser - The Tenacity cargo version of the Dream Chaser spacecraft, with the Shooting Star module Read more about this addon...
  4. francisdrake

    A clear day at the Cape?

    When flying into Cape Canaveral I sometimes encounter a dense cloud cover, which makes it difficult to find the runway from a distance. When using other time settings, the clouds have moved away. Is there a way to see upfront, where the clouds are? I assume the cloud map slowly rotates over...
  5. francisdrake

    Base UK Cornwall Spaceport?

    Recently I had to abort a DreamChaser launch over the mid-Atlantic. Due to a pilots error ;) I dropped back into the atmosphere. Instead of quitting the simulation, I looked for an airport in Europe to make an emergency landing. Surprise: There is none! With the simulation temporarily...
  6. francisdrake

    Project Hubble Reboost

    NASA is considering to reboost the Hubble space telescope (HST) into a higher orbit, using a specially equipped Dragon capsule. It would have a rear docking port installed in the trunk. This allows the Dragon capsule to use its main thrusters in the nose for orbital maneuvers while docked to...
  7. francisdrake

    Project Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV)

    As the Light Weight Lunar Lander is much fun to fly, I revisited another light Lunar lander concept from 2019. This concept was proposed by Robert Zubrin in the article Moon Direct on The New Atlantis. He proposed an LH2/LOX vessel to pick up the crew in low Earth orbit, ferry them directly to...
  8. francisdrake

    Project VulcanCentaur

    The VulcanCentaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA). Attached is an early development add-on, with limited capability. For a launcher already in production, little technical data can be found, aside from promotional stuff...
  9. francisdrake

    Project Moonship

    This is a concept of a Moonship based on the SpaceX Starship design. The development was done in the Artemis Landers thread. Published it on Orbithangar to make it more visible. Download
  10. francisdrake

    New Release "Artemis 8" using Dragon

    In 2020 Robert Zubrin made a proposal to use a Dragon capsule and the upper stage of an empty FalconHeavy, dock them in Earth orbit and send them to the Moon. TheSpaceReview An unloaded FalconHeavy upper stage has ~3 ton of fuel remaining,. Enough the send the stack to the Moon, capture into...
  11. francisdrake

    Project CST-100 Starliner

    The CST-100 Starliner over Floridas east coast With the commercial crew program approaching its first launches I think Boeing's CST-100 Starliner shall be in Orbiter as well. This is an early version. Code and everything are a little rough and need improvement over time. Reliable data on the...
  12. francisdrake

    Do we see into the future in ORBITER?

    I have my problems with relativistic effects and loss of causality when travelling faster than light. Orbiter - to my knowledge - has a Newtonian setup. I assume the lightspeed here is infinitly high. So if I look at a distant planet, e.g. Jupiter, I can see the position where he is right now...
  13. francisdrake

    Project Mars Ascent / Descent Vehicle

    Lockheed Martin's Mars Ascent/Descent Vehicle (MADV) was presented as part of the 'Mars Base Camp' architecture in Adelaide in Sept 2017, the same conference Elon Musk presented his BFR. The vessel looks amazingly 1950s rocketpunk, like a crossover between a Lockheed Electra airliner and an...
  14. francisdrake

    Project BFR for Orbiter 2016

    This is a concept study based on the presentation of Elon Musk in Adelaide on September 29, 2017. It contains the booster and the spaceship. Data on the BFR are scarce and sometimes contradicting. You could help me if you post data and flight experiences here. The aerodynamic model is a biconic...
  15. francisdrake

    Project MAV - The Frisbee of Mars

    This is the concept of a Mars lander and ascent vehicle, as described in Boeing's "Mission to Mars Using Six Not So Easy Pieces". The lander weighs 40-45 ton and can transport a crew of 4 to Mars surface and back to orbit. It uses a large inflatable hypersonic decelerator for atmospheric entry...
  16. francisdrake

    Journey to Space - Film

    Narrated by Patrick Stewart this film is about an upcoming human exploration of Mars. The trailer shows an interplanetary solar-electrical (?) powered vessel with long trusses, large solar arrays, inflatable hab, an Orion docked to it and a Mars lander with a large conical supersonic...
  17. francisdrake

    Project Orion MPCV

    This is about the development of an Orion MPCV for Orbiter. - Orion crew module - ESA service module - Orange SLS launcher, with ICPS and EUS - Deep Space Habitat - Solar Electric Mars Ship ** Update Version 15 - 2018-04-13 ** for Orbiter 2016. Keys Commands [ A ] Auxillary thrusters on/off...
  18. francisdrake

    Best way to Larange point 2?

    What would be the best way to reach the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2, which is some 60.000 km beyond the far side of the moon? Szenario thoughts: An installation at the Earth-Moon-Lagrange point 2 (e.g. a deep-space telescope) shall be serviced by a manned expedition. The service crew is...
  19. francisdrake

    TorchShips game development

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/product7/torchships-real-3-d-space-combat I came across this website following an Atomic Rockets tweet by Nyrath. They intend to develop a tactical space combat game, based on newtonian physics, having torch drives, laser, kinetics, missiles, etc. It sounds...
  20. francisdrake

    Orbiter-based short stories, anyone?

    We do have a screen-shot thread and an impressive video thread, but I wonder if somebody has ever written stories based on Orbiter experiences? I think Orbiter would be a perfect tool to prove your story or adventure could be real. The simulation gives an excellent feeling of an astronauts...
Top