Question Anyone know where to find a good space tug for LEO assembly?

[Kyle]

There is, of course, [ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=1292"]kulch's Space Tug release 4 for Orbiter 2006,[/ame] but I struggle with rendezvous due to the lack of a linear RCS. I was curious if anyone knows of another tug module that could also work with space station assembly?

 

[Pipcard]

Doesn't the Tranzit tug (which comes with the same package) have linear RCS?

 

[Kyle]

Doesn't the Tranzit tug (which comes with the same package) have linear RCS?

It does, but it's a little too big for some of the EELVs I'd like to use. Makes for a nice space station module, however!

 

[orbitingpluto]

I think Velcro Rockets upper stage could work well enough, if you add a docking port to it.

 

[Pipcard]

The issue is about the linear RCS, which the Velcro upper stages don't have. I believe [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=2872"]Ariane 6[/ame] (as in the fictional, super-heavy launcher add-on) has a tug with linear RCS, but that's too big for EELVs as well.

It's likely that I'll make a tug for my Hatsunese space station project, but sorry, it's not going to be released right now.

My main issue is that a tug attached to the back of the module won't have the RCS thrusters at the center of mass, so there will be a torque when using the linear thrusters, unless the vessel is kept in Kill Rot mode (using up propellant to counteract the rotation), or the RCS thrusters are on booms.

(this image is from a .pdf about future derivatives of JAXA's HTV)

The problem with the booms is how to deal with the different sizes/lengths of modules.
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The other solution to the center of mass problem is to have a tug that surrounds the module, but there might need to be either a wider fairing or narrower modules. Also, speaking in in-simulation terms, there needs to be a "docking port" or "attachment point" in the center of the module. (there is a problem with attachment points, though, and that is that the mass of the child vessel attached to the parent isn't really taken into account)

 

[Dantassii]

I've found that the URMS does a pretty good job with smaller modules so long as you keep the total number of modules down to a small number. I started having issues with the URMS when I switched to the DX9 drivers and had over 250 modules in my Lunar Station.

The neat thing about the URMS is that you can 'grow' it from the default settings into an arm that's 100 (or was that 1000x) bigger than the default, although I've found that putting it at 10x default size allows for access to just about everything in my Lunar Station and it's not too big compared to the IMS modules I'm uisng.

I'm well over 1,600 modules in the Lunar Station and it's nearly 25% complete... I estimate...

Dantassii
HUMONGOUS IMS shipbuilder

 

[Cosmic Penguin]

Didn't the Italians released a tug as part of their space station add-on project?

 

[Pipcard]

Didn't the Italians released a tug as part of their space station add-on project?

I just posted it above. But that "Gaia" project was basically cancelled due to "stagnation" in the Italian Orbiter forum as K_Jameson said in the Starlab thread.

Only [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=5989"]one module[/ame] was released on Orbit-Hangar, and it didn't have a tug like that.

Instead, it had small clusters of RCS propellant tanks and thrusters.

The next module (never released) was going to have "RCS units" in the front and the back in order to have linear movement. But they had to be part of the same mesh as the module.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I've got that tug back in my Orbiter 2006 version somewhere. It was pretty cool to fly, kind of strange, but still very neat.

The tug and 2(?) modules were released as part of a beta.

 

[n72.75]

There is the Dragonfly; it is included with Orbiter.

 

[Notebook]

Greg Burch made a lot of stuff:

http://www.orbithangar.com/searchauth.php?search=gregburch&StartRow=1

Haven't tried any with the latest Orbiter version.

N.

 

[Star Voyager]

[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=6933"]This one[/ame] fits in STS and could probably be modified for EELV's.

 

[hutchison66]

orbital Tug

Have you had a look at my Boeing OMV Tug which was to launch with the shuttle.

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=6933"]Boeing OMV for Shuttlefleet[/ame]

can be launched on the shuttle to move a module around in LEO