Kerbal Space Program - Advanced Rocket Design Tutorial
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- I figured it was well overdue that I put together a more detailed rocket building guide that covers how to maximise your rocket's performance. Using the Kerbal Engineer Plugin I assemble multiple rocket configurations and show that the way staging is used can make a significant to your rocket's capabilities.
You can do all the calculations yourself using the rocket equation, but for expediency I used the excellent kerbal engineer plugin
kerbalspaceport...
It's pretty amazing how this guide is still a pretty good tutorial for new players, even 11 years later.
Good job Scott!
Thanks. I became like 200% better at the game after only watching 2 or 3 of your videos.
It's okay. We all start from zero at some point.
After watching about 40% of your videos on KSP Scott, I've came to the conclusion that you are the best out there. I couldn't have made it as far as I have without your assistance sir! Thanks from your new subscriber :)
Well he is astrophycisist. thats why se is so good. HE CAN CALCULATE IN HIS HEAD! HE IS AN WALING CALCULATOR!
He is essentially SAS IRL
"About as good as intestinal gas."
Brings a new meaning burning into orbit..
loved his reaction "how come these things are never this stable when im flying them for real". i am a noob to this game. a friend of mine who knows how much i love the space program bought me this game and said after several hours, days of blind rage i would love this game. he is right. i am sti in the blind rage stage cause my rockets always cart wheel. especially if i use the Apollo style 3 seat cockpit
i will love this game eventually. i have to fix these few problems: 1) stop my rockets from cart wheeling. (using solid rocket boosters makes it worse) 2) i can not store more than 6 or 7 experiments in the capsule. 3) figuring out how to use maneuver nodes to get to plants or mystery objects.
i work 4 on 4 off 12 hr days and am an avid golfer (real life) and fight simmer. but i always set aside 5-6 hours during my days off for KSP. i am watching Mr Manley & Mr Lowne videos daily, even on breaks at work to figure this damn game out. i like this game now and will love it when i figure stuff out.
thanks Scott & Matt. i will report back when i get sucess.
Don't forget to put fins on the bottom!
I started to learn too, stil in day 1 of career mode. Already the training levels take up quite some time :)
How's your skill now?
Gertjan: my skill is still sub par. although i have finally figured out how to use mechjeb so i still have fun playing the game. but as of now if mech jeb is not in control my rockets due back flips. so i will keep pluggin away. until i figure it out.
Thanks for teaching me what ISP and DeltaV is and all that. I've done pretty well by just guessing but this will help a lot.
Scott Manly: We will stick the fuel tank here because it will make it my rocket better, and the wings at a 90° angle
Me: Put this here and that there, eh fuck it should fly.
Nice try
+DarkDrake77 Plays Seems legit :P LOL Me to lel
its funny how you mess with the rocket in the end and telling us to fly safe :)
Scott, I'd LOVE to see more in this vein. Engine clusters, what to build and why when you're finally in orbit, tips for station design, etc... would all be very useful subjects to cover!
7 years later and KSP is still going strong. Looking forward to KSP 2!
The little rockomax radial engines are incredibly efficient despite their low ISP, because they are so light, making them close to nuclear engines in efficiency and much more convenient. You can replace a huge amount of mass with more fuel instead of engines.
This video came at the perfect time for me. I'm struggling with fuel problems while trying to build a space station around Minmus. I always seem to run out of fuel before I can get there. I think your tips on fuel line usage and asparagus staging might really help me out! You're my savior Scott Manley, now I can take to the stars without having to build massive overpowered behemoths to get there!
13:36 "This is a known bug that will be fixed one day"...
Well 7 years after this video was made, they still haven't fixed it :p
This is the kind of stuff that people with a genuine interest for things learn about as well, not just engineers or physicists... I'm always surprised at the fact people are surprised at how non-scientists know a lot of science, and such.
I guess people just aren't curious or interested in learning just for the sake of learning.
I came for advanced rocket design. Stayed for the menorah candle.
"Hello, I'm Scott Manly..." *pulls up a chair to be thoroughly entertained and educated*
Fuel line feed order isn't as important as it once was, but it can be critical in aircraft as the fuel flow can cause your aircraft to be unstable.
Scott Manleys ksp tutorials are the best on you tube. Both funny, informative and entertaining.
I have to thank you for introducing me KSP. This is really filling in a lot of questions I had and entertains the mind in an exercising way. 👌
Really god video Scott, haven't seen any video on YT that have explained this as good as yours. Thank you.
finally i will be able to actually watch ALL of your other videos without being clueless about whats actually going on!
It's so nice to see you having the exact same problems with building as I have.
That little bit of pilot ballet at the end makes this video all the more sweet.
Scott, I just gotta say it. You make the best KSP video's. Keep at it.
I got the demo and bought the game within an hour.
Good demo.
Hi, Scott. When you put on the fuel lines you have to have in mind, that the tanks are used from the one on the very top to the bottom. The fuel lines put the tank on top of the others if you would like to say it that way. so try to link your bottom most tank on the outer satges to the very top tank of your centre ;)
Scott your are my hero thanks for all the fun you have given me playing this great game
The rocket flying after the capsule flew off was gold!
Really really glad you made this video been having a horrible time optimizing and minimizing my rockets.
29:38
Deja Vu!
I've just been in this place before!
(Higher on the street!)
And I know it's my time to come home!
Calling you!
And the subject's a mystery!
(Standing on my feet!)
It's so hard when I try to believe!
Whooooaaa!!
Good for you young man. Keep it up, become an aerospace engineer and help get us off this rock.
I've been waiting for this. Thanks to you Scott I bought Kerbal and have been making videos (not very good ones mind you).
I haven't sat down to check the math yet to see if it is really worth it, but my favourite variant on asparagus staging is what I call "Top Fold'n'Drop". Instead of just adding more engines with lots of fuel where you drop the engines along with the empty fuel tanks, use a series of drop tanks on a level above, and drop them in pairs.
Makes for a ridiculous number of rapid stages, likely explodes, but is exceptionally fun to drop all that weight but keep all the thrust...
AWESOME BUG FIX!!!! I never knew that you could trick KSP into properly detecting attachments.
It's really cool how KSP actually supports and welcomes mods. Not many games like that out there
Thanks, this really helped, I might finally be able t get my space station into orbit without running out of fuel just a few seconds before it is correctly positioned.
Tip.
Sometimes you will get structural failure on joins between stacked fuel tanks or fuel tanks -> seperators.
So put a ring of 4 cubic octagonal struts opposite sides of the join and link with a strut connectors. Makes the join stress proof strong.
Second tip, add a second ring of seperators to the central rocket then attach I beams then add the outer fuel tanks.
So far the largest stable, reliable rocket i have made is 1200tons and it puts 370tons into orbit using this method.
Hey Scott, long time watcher, first time comment. If you have trouble attaching modules in the assembly buildings, it seems to be because the game has a hard time determining where in the 3 dimensional space you want it to attach, to rectify this, click the part off of your cursor in empty space, and re-select it by clicking on the VERY EDGE of the module, from this point, the game will try to attach it from this point. Thanks so much for the videos.
Exactly all the rocket efficiency I personally have been seeking, in one place! One step closer to more efficiently controlled explosions =D I no doubt speak for hundreds of us, again, THANK YOU! ~'Splode efficiently, fly safe
Yes I have an old video called 'beginners guide to control modules' but it needs updated.
The stack connected at the bottom will drain from the top only, the one connected at the top will drain both tanks, but the top tank more rapidly.
There was, and hopefully still is post-board crash, a pretty informative post on the forum somewhere that explains how the fuel logic works.
Excellent video as always :)
I already know everything you said, but I enjoyed it no less. This should really help new people to KSP. It also took me back to the days when we had just one liquid engine, one fuel tank and a solid booster. I look forward to whatever you do next!
On the KSP website, someone summed up a lot of this very handily. Fuel increases your deltaV, but lowers your TWR. Engines lower your deltaV, but increase the TWR. Everything else (capsules, structure, batteries, etc.) lowers both, but gives your rocket a reason to be going to space in the first place. Generally, more efficient engines have higher ISP (and thus more deltaV), but lower TWR. Use just what is needed to have a TWR above 1, and enough deltaV to get where you're going.
WOW, I never thought of using fuel lines to stabilize an aircraft. That will really help with VTOLs. Plus I got this game because of you :3
This is incredibly informative and has completely revolutionized my rocket construction. Thank you so much.
Intestinal gas haha. You always amuse me Scott. Keep up the good work!
Scott, you has dem skills to pay dem bills
I really enjoyed the joy riding at the end
Your videos have helped take my Space Program to the next level. Thank you sir!
I've come up with a fractal "asparagus" design, using one engine per one tank, on my own and now I feel very smart. And smug I guess.
Also, mad piloting at the end. =D
Impressive flying there at the end!
Asparagus staging can also be used to only add fuel, so you do not have to carry the weight of the engines, since for a lot of maneuvers in space you do not need a high TWR. By the way you can also change a lot of the engines for ones which do not have gimballing (so LV-T30 instead of LV-T45).
I got it off of Pirate Bay just to insure it would run well on my computer before I bought it. It worked fine, and I bought it.
I love the "fly safe" when his rocket in the end does not look that very safe flying:)
Scott: Builds small rocket, says can get anywhere and come back.
Me: Builds Rocket that almost crashes my system, barely get to the Mun.
Excellent video. Thanks very much for going through this! Radically improved my understanding of the goings on in rocket design. Keep it up.
As always, you've been very helpful Scott. Thank you very much.
this vid would have been super useful when I started playing ksp. By now I've learned your lessons the hard way, crashing kerbals!
:D Woah the real Scott Manley just answered one of my questions :D I am a fan. I love orbital mechanics.
Great video. Looks like I am going to have to re-look at adding fuel lines.
I'm new to KSP and found this vary useful! Thank You Scott!
Thanks for that Scott gave me a lot of tips. I may be able to build a more efficient rocket instead of the brute force I was using.
He was talking more about traditional rockets. Which it is the most fuel efficient of. You need to be fairly patient with the atomic engine if you plan on going long distances, but you have to have the patience of a saint to deal with ion engines.
Yes but he was asking about below 10,000m where the atmosphere is most dense. Once above 10k you can go full throttle if you have a low drag smaller rocket. If you have a larger rocket you need to climb higher. Like I mentioned before, using Mechjeb is a great tool that will give you hints as to how much drag loss you're getting based on the specific rocket you're flying. You can't go by the wiki because not all rockets are built the same. Drag plays a big part in fuel use.
13:35 - It's not a bug - the topmost tank was the parent part and the only one you could actually attach to something. I think holding CTRL makes it so you can attach the whole group as one part.
another tip: Optimal DV for current engine is engine ISP*7.23, this is the optimal amount so any extra dv added isn't worth of it (weight gain is more than gained DV) and less isn't enought.
This is multiplier which works only for Kerbal, if you use mods which changes tank/fuel weight ratio, it needs other multiplier than this.
It's more like 150m/s, especially if you have bad aerodynamics. You can check this easily using the Mechjeb plugin under the ascent autopilot stats. It will show you how much drag loss you have.
yaaaaay! thank you sir! Learning so much from your videos!
How timely! I was just checking your channel to see if you had such a video after my last creation crashed and burned (hard.)
Awesome vid - been having some fun lifting large loads into orbit, time for a bit brains rather than brawn!
Just downloading this amazing game now - cannot wait to play it !!
One thing that I have found myself doing with big rockets recently is using the big jet engines as solid fuel. 20 of them with a couple mainsails can lift most anything into orbit. The idea is that they stay on the lower stage and you usually end up dropping them with close to full fuel.
1. Ion engines are great for interstellar travel near Kerbol. When you have the Time, you should prefer ISP over TWR.
2. The fuelines need to feed from the bottom Tank to the top one.
they grow up so fast
Scott, your videos are awesome, but I did see a mistake here when showing your rocket at 19:00 with the way your fuel lines are set up. The fuel lines should be run from the bottom tanks to the bottom tanks, not the top. This way your rockets on the ends feed the inner ones until they're ready to be separated. The way you have it, it will only feed fuel until the top ones are empty.
You're a legend, Scott. Thanks :D
Thanks for helping me get it up Scott!
Just remember, you can make perfect copies of stages by holding Alt while left-clicking on whatever piece you want to attach the clone by. Also, I tend to neutralize some of the spin by having the fuel feeding into two directions from the earlier stages. The game does some odd things when fuel feeds from one end of a craft to the other.
There is a speed limit in space, and that speed limit is described Einstein in his famous mass-energy equivalence equation, better known as E=mc^2. The full equation accounts for particles with no mass, for example photons. It also shows that any particle without mass must travel at the speed of light. That law applies backwards as well. (Long form is E^2=(mc^2)^2+(pc)^2 where p is momentum, m is mass, E is energy, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum.
Great video scott this will all come in handy.
The best way to end up in space with the most Dv is to launch in 2 phases. The first phase carries a full orange fuel tank into orbit, the second phase carries a tour vessel with an empty orange and a couple of nuclear engines it then docks with phase 1 and then refuels, if you use a vessel with nuclear engines you can easily end up with 7 or 8 km of dv after you achieve orbit, easily enough for a grand tour, but only if you dont intend to land on any planets and are very patient with your burns. There is also the jet powered boosters option which can add a couple of km/s onto any launch vehicle, but if you're a cost conscious player or have a limited part count then this might be too resource expensive :)
Scott,
I dont know if the Delta 4 heavy has crossfeed, but if I remember correctly, they throttle the middle engine down to preserve fuel during the first stage, and then throttle it up again after the outside boosters seperate
I'm not sure what the most thing is, that you can duplicate parts which i didn know lol. or this mod, simply amazing, i think ive learned more about making rockets and delta v in this video, than in all my failed experiments inside the game.
Something like this should really be in the game, you really arent given enough information atm.
Scott, just so you know, buzzing the tower in a rocket is just showing off. ;)
Scott, you should try the Module manager plugin, it comes with a plugin to adjust the amount of fuel in the tanks and so on. I have used it on many occasions for better/lighter landers/launch vehicles with just the right amount of delta-V.
Indeed.
So long as it's vaguely close to 1, you should eventually get off the pad, since as you burn fuel, your weight decreases while your thrust stays constant, so thrust: weight ratio is therefore increasing all the time :-)
Your video is informative. But I mostly just liked listening to you speak.
lol
*Fishing for compliments* I am 15 and I have taught myself trigonometry and some basic calculus because I wanted to calculate the phase angles in Kerbal Space Program, this is genuine interest. It isn't all that hard if you set your mind to it and have a good learning resource. Rock on Fyrerider, we are the scientists of the future! :)
Actually, you can fly into the sun with about 4-5km/s using a bielliptic transfer.
I taught myself to make very effective use of complex staging; many of my rockets have 10 stages just in the main lift stage.
Although, as I might have not pointed out, they will wind up emptying stacks at the same rate. So I'm not disagreeing with you on that point
The engines will all burn for the same amount of time, but they won't empty in the same fashion.
So the weight won't be distributed the same, and this could cause for some funky rocket steering fun. Or if your rocket has even more stages, quite possibly make for much more interesting fuel use patterns, I'd have to study more stages and crazier setups
Not what I would call advanced rocket design but ok. Was hoping for more explanation of how to build a stable rocket that's easily controllable and flies well.
I just got this game about 3 weeks ago and from what I've seen (keep in mind this is coming from an extreme noob so don't treat this comment like it's gold) choosing engines with Gimbal stats have cleared up some controllable problems for me because they have Vectoring range. This and placing objects at the right spots and mot totally screwing up my CoM. Larger rockets in lower stages were getting hard to steer in space as well, throwing flywheels on them made things respond a lot better for me.
@@novaplum1617 Use RCS for maneuvering in orbit, if the Rocket is unstable on accent then add fins to the base or check if nothing is moving. I remember how my first rockest have looked like so my tip is that when your rocket isn't stable its to 80% the fault of parts wobbling around.
@@alex_inside Cheers mate! This tip helped out a lot
@@novaplum1617 No problem, if you have more questions just ask.
@@alex_inside I actually do have a question. Have you ever done one of those missions where you are supposed to rescue someone who is stuck in orbit above the planet? I cant figure out how to get that done for the life of me.
those who were not yet at this level? or think they can never reach it? just watch Scott's videos... i used to be terrible at this, now i got Kerbals all over the place :)
I would love to do this, but it would require a lot of work from the developers.
And now the subassembly loader is part of the stock game, asparagus staging is practically free in terms of marginal engineering costs - build it once, and you've got an (admittedly usually over-engineered) off-the-shelf launcher for anything you care to put up.
If I remember correctly, putting the fuel lines on the bottom a) makes the fuel feed from top to bottom, which is better for the center of gravity, of course, and b) prevents the "inner" tanks from draining at all. When the lines are on top, the inner ones still drain somewhat. I may even have connected the fuel lines directly to the engine, I am not sure anymore...
Wow, thanks for this... I finally got my Mun lander to the Mun! :)
But the Falcon can crossfeed and change fuel supply without interrupting the thrust.
PRO TIP: When doing Asparagus Staging, disable the thrust vectoring (i.e. lock gimbals) on your outer rocket engines. That'll work wonders against the dreaded Spin Of Death.
If you can understand+use the rocket equation, then you can understand most of anything scott will ever talk about.