OHM Ion 5 Launch Vehicle

[Max-Q]

Ion 5 Launch Vehicle - Ion 5 is a fictional, low cost launch vehicle for up to 5,500 kg to TLI



Read more about this addon...

 

[Max-Q]

v1.1 Released

I added support for dogleg ascent trajectories.

 

[WolfAngriff]

Hi Max-Q !

How can I change payload's position and orientation ?

One thing I noticed : 3rd stage mesh seems less cynlindrical than the others. Looks more like a polygon.

Those launchers are realy amazing ! Thanx again for that !

 

[Max-Q]

How can I change payload's position and orientation ?

For position, there is a line in the .cfg, “PAYLOAD_OFS”. Uncomment it and change how you want.
Orientation can’t be changed from the Ion-5 side, the attachment point on the payload has to be changed.

One thing I noticed : 3rd stage mesh seems less cynlindrical than the others. Looks more like a polygon.

Yeah, the 3rd stage mesh kinda got messed up when I exported it to Orbiter.
I will remake it and release an update.

 

[WolfAngriff]

OK thanx, i'll try to find the attachment point of this payload !

Questions about license : do i need your authorization to release scenarios with Ion launchers ? If I change fairing ? If I change payload adapter ? It won't happen soon, but it's better to know now.

Question about Ion launchers : what about something like a Zenit stage, one single model for the whole family ? It could make the launchers even more flexible.

 

[Max-Q]

Questions about license : do i need your authorization to release scenarios with Ion launchers ? If I change fairing ? If I change payload adapter ? It won't happen soon, but it's better to know now.

No permission needed for this. If you reuse assets from my addon, a mention in the readme would be appreciated.

Question about Ion launchers : what about something like a Zenit stage, one single model for the whole family ? It could make the launchers even more flexible.

In theory this could work, might allow some interesting missions like payload delivery to lunar orbit.
I don't know if a single upper stage for all Ion launchers would be practical given the vast payload capability differences.

 

[WolfAngriff]

Ok about permission, don't worry i won't forget the artist's name !

For the additional stage, you're right. But at least it could be useful for Ion-4 and Ion-5 i think. It could also allow direct missions to long range targets, or something like Gaia or any Lagrange points missions with more heavy payloads. If you think about larger iterations, well we could have nice space tugs too. Of course it's always possible to find a "true" Zenit stage and do something with, but well... I've spoken with an employee of Ion Industry, and he told me that one of his friend told him that the enterprise aims to be fully independent in it's programs...

Whatever, do as you want, this is not a request, it was just a suggestion.

Thanx for your answers !

 

[Max-Q]

For the additional stage, you're right. But at least it could be useful for Ion-4 and Ion-5 i think. It could also allow direct missions to long range targets, or something like Gaia or any Lagrange points missions with more heavy payloads. If you think about larger iterations, well we could have nice space tugs too.

If we just think Ion 4/5, this would be a lot more feasible. Maybe about 3000-3500kg wet mass plus payload?
A large space-tug version could go on the coming-soon Ion-6.

Of course it's always possible to find a "true" Zenit stage and do something with, but well... I've spoken with an employee of Ion Industry, and he told me that one of his friend told him that the enterprise aims to be fully independent in it's programs...

Ion Aerospace employees are talking about company policy? This is not good.
But yes. Keeping everything in-house helps reduce costs and allows complete freedom of design since there is no need to design around 3rd party hardware.
The exception to this was the one-off "Finding Eagle" project, where SpaceX provided the launch and return services using Starship.

Whatever, do as you want, this is not a request, it was just a suggestion.

Well, unfortunately I think this one may go on the back burner since Ion Aerospace has a lot of projects on it's plate right now.
The Ion-6 super-booster is very close to first flight, there is the DarkMatter lunar lander in the works, and Deep Space DarkEnergy has reached the engineering mockup stage.
In the planning phase are a manned mission to Mars, and the Ion-7 and Ion-8 boosters needed to launch it.

However, if some engineers find extra time on their hands, who knows?

 

[WolfAngriff]

OK, as there were updates of Ion 4 & 5 i thought you were still working on them. No problem, as stated, there are stages like this already existing. It's possible to reuse the one provided with gaia mission for example. Of course i could give it a try, but i've never done anything in 3D... except industrial things, in the Jurassic era... under Windows 98... Ok, i'm old ! So, i'll wait (almost) patiently for the other members of the family.

 

[Max-Q]

OK, as there were updates of Ion 4 & 6 i thought you were still working on them. No problem, as stated, there are stages like this already existing. It's possible to reuse the one provided with gaia mission for example.

I'm still maintaining them; adding major new features, not as much. Active development efforts right now are focused on Ion-6 and the new projects in process.
That said, I am always looking for ideas to improve any of my addons!
As far as reusing upper stages, the launch customer is free to put any payload wanted on top of Ion Aerospace's booster; Ion Aerospace just doesn't offer this as a package product.

Of course i could give it a try, but i've never done anything in 3D... except industrial things, in the Jurassic era... under Windows 98... Ok, i'm old ! So, i'll wait (almost) patiently for the other members of the family.

Windows 98? That particular OS is older than I am!
Ion-6 at least shouldn't be to much more of a wait, I am pretty much down to scenarios and documentation.

 

[WolfAngriff]

Windows 98? That particular OS is older than I am!

Hmmm... And i was wrong, because that happened in 95/96... So that was with... Windows 93. Eons... No Internet, no mobiles, everyone smoked in the bureau, and PC' RAM was 128 Mb ! Drawings were made with Rötring ink pens, on articulated drawing tables, with large paper sheets. Corrections were made with razor blades, scratching the paper. And we made big mining structures, buildings and even trains like that. The engineer was not able to do anything before 9 AM because of his hangover and everyone spoke louder after midday pause. I'm not saying things were better in the past. It just looks like another planet.

Back to the topic, knowing what you want to do with Ion launchers, i think i can go deeper in my project. At least, i'll have the launchers for it. I won't have to do any alterations on them, just make them part of scenarios. But a whole launchers family with the same design, same interface, from an imaginary enterprise is more than i expected. So, a very very BIG thank you for that !

 

[Max-Q]

Hmmm... And i was wrong, because that happened in 95/96... So that was with... Windows 93. Eons... No Internet, no mobiles, everyone smoked in the bureau, and PC' RAM was 128 Mb ! Drawings were made with Rötring ink pens, on articulated drawing tables, with large paper sheets. Corrections were made with razor blades, scratching the paper. And we made big mining structures, buildings and even trains like that. The engineer was not able to do anything before 9 AM because of his hangover and everyone spoke louder after midday pause. I'm not saying things were better in the past. It just looks like another planet.

Wow! It is always cool to hear how they did things before 3D CAD and the internet took over!
I can't imagine designing anything serious without Solidworks...

Back to the topic, knowing what you want to do with Ion launchers, i think i can go deeper in my project. At least, i'll have the launchers for it. I won't have to do any alterations on them, just make them part of scenarios. But a whole launchers family with the same design, same interface, from an imaginary enterprise is more than i expected. So, a very very BIG thank you for that !

You're more than welcome.
I'm just glad someone is getting use out of 'em other than launching DarkEnergy.

 

[Max-Q]

v1.2 Released

I remade the third stage mesh.

 

[Max-Q]

v1.3 Released

• Recompile for Orbiter 2024
• Fix bug where countdown timer shows up as a yellow rectangle
• License change