JAXA SSTO "Kankoh-Maru" [RSS]

Part of Arda Industries JAXA Contract Roadmap

This SSTO is made for transport of personnel or tourists to orbiting Space Stations. It can reach a 200km orbit in RSS or reach Luna in stock system.

Reaching Orbit:

• Important: Set throttle to 100% and activate AG 1 and AG 2 before activating stage 1. Allow for engines to reach rated power (about 1-2 seconds) and then activate stage 1 to jettison launch platform.
• At 20% fuel and below, strict throttle control is EXTREMELY important (especially in RSS). Maintain enough throttle (and ONLY enough) to keep your apoapsis about 60 seconds ahead of the craft when above 100km altitude during launch.
• In RSS this craft will need to be refueled in orbit before it can perform a powered re-entry and landing. If this is not possible, consider installing parachutes.

Operation:

• AG 1: Booster [Sea Level] Engines (Shut-off at 40km alt.)
• AG 2: Sustainer [Vac.] Engines (Continuous operation)
• AG 3: Grid Fins [Re-entry]
• AG 6: Ground Refueling Connections [x2, 200% dock size]
• AG 7: Docking system [Fore docking door and 200% docking port]
• AG 8: Landing Legs
• AG 9: Solar Panels
• AG 10 RCS (Monopropellant, use ONLY for NON-translation)
• AG 11: RCS [Translation] (Monopropellant, use ONLY for translation)
• AG 12: RWS [Gyros]
  Note: Do NOT use AG 10 and AG 12 at the same time

Real-life concept art: