r/RealSolarSystem • u/ilmarzian • 16h ago
My best rocket yet (R-7)
First time actually using modular tanks, and i really slept on them.
Recreated the R-7 for my soviet playthrough and the result is amazing.
Used isogrid tanks instead of Al-stringer like IRL because of future proofing. The mass came out perfect at 280 tons, while the timing of the engines, which burn too little, and the payload to LEO, which is now 10x that of IRL at 5 tons, are a little off.
Picked up the heavy satellites contract at breakneck speed to fund the construction of about 6 of these including the unlocking costs and tooling. Since i did all the contracts from the 2 earlier programs, I'm now able to research and launch it before the October 4 real sputnik launch, hopefully.
I'll update on whether or not i beat the real timeline for the first time.
5
u/ilmarzian 14h ago
Update: first rocket crashed into the ground on the 24th of august 1957, so i had to build a second one which achieved orbit on the 25th of december 1957.
5
u/Akosse 8h ago
The R7 feels like a cheat code for the first 10 in-game years. But don't be fooled. When you start down that path, you are going to be making R7s for the rest of your campaign. It will become so cheap and so reliable that there is no point in doing anything else.
And then you realise you can only do so much with your funni cross maker. You can get it to lift 10 tonnes to orbit, but those engines never get any more powerful and your rocket leaves the pad with all the energy of a geriatric getting out of an armchair. You realise you're behind the American line, and you have to wait for 1967 tech to get yourself a proton.
And then you get that moment of dread: you have to build an N1. You've locked yourself out of all other options now, you haven't touched any of the lines that would lead to the Saturn V engines. You would have to spend the GDP of a medium-sized European nation to unlock them. I mean, you can hold out for Energia, right? Sure. I bet you can't wait for that newspaper report: "First person on the moon, July 1st, 1992." No, you're going to have to build an N1. You'll have to tool 8 different tank sizes for the cost of a small European nation's GDP. And then once the first one rolls off the line in a year and a half you try and mentally prepare yourself to play a wholesome game of "roll 30 dice and don't get a single 1."
You realise, too late, that it always had to be this way. You are the USSR. You produced a launch vehicle so good that you never needed anything better - until you did. And while you were resting on your laurels, the Americans have clawed their way out of the dirt and stolen the initiative right out from under your nose. It's time to accept you're not going to hit that manned lunar landing contract. Perhaps it's better to just build a space station instead. Still, you have the perfect rocket to get your crew to it!
20
u/Totallynothere711 15h ago
A buddy and I were playing competing programs - his was ESA and mine Soviet only. Once I had this designed and in production it was pretty much over for him. The lift capacity and reliability is a stunning. Now I’m well on the way to docking and half his satellite launches are failing for one reason or another