Project Nova HLV

[K_Jameson]

The GOAT is BACK!!!! Just came across this project few days ago. Jarvis/Antares were my favorite Orbiter mods. Still hvae the old Jarvis/Antares User Manual.

I thank you so much for the enthusiasm; unfortunately, the old FOI team is no more. Sure I was the responsible for the rockets, so a certain continuity is assured
If you read this thread from the beginning, you can see a certain irregularity in the process; this is due to the fact that, despite the final goal was always clear (the Moon), the design changed many times, from a totally expendable vehicle to a design that wants to incorporate reusability. Now that I think about it, January 2026 might be the right time for a recap.

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Read that the FOI team dissolved. But its great to see one continuing. The "revemp" of the old desings is great. I alwasy thought the old Jarvis rockets felt out of place with the introduction of reusable Falcon 9
A recap/summery would be very apprichiated as im starting to loose track of all the diffrent Stage variants. Maybee inclue a screenshot showing all the parts done so far

 

[K_Jameson]

Gonna look very Kerbal For Booster mounts you could use a simlar design to the ship catch pins on Starship whith them coverd in TPS.
Attachment shows example. left is booster right is ship. The boosters could simply drop away when engines are cut with small push from RCS to avoid collision with center core

We have a total of six mounts, three in the intertank/foward skirt and three in the aft skirt. The forward-central in particular must transfer the majority of the loads from the boosters to the core, and must also carry electrical connections and conditioning from the core to the booster, and thus is pretty large. Leaving it protruding laterally could cause, I think, a "hot spot" of plasma at reentry, potentially IMO problematic

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Was thinking that all the interfaces would get moved to the "bottom" of the trapazoid center attachment point. The booster would push against that attach pount which then transfers the load into the center core

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Is it planned to have a full custom space center like with the Jarvis rockets? Was one of my favorite part from that mod

 

[K_Jameson]

It will have custom launchpads, more refined in terms of, you know, arms, connections with the vehicle and all that stuff, but a full custom space center, with a VAB etc. is beyond the scope of my project for now. By the way, the launch site will be moved from Capo Passero (Italy), unsuitable for various trajectories, to the classic Florida, at least for now.

 

[Spaceman 3D]

The proposed LC 49 that was planned for Starship (on hold) north of LC 39 should make a good launch site. The VAB can be used for Vehicle integration. Wuold only have to extend the crawlerway or build a new access road

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Could you give an Update on the current status of launch pad development?

 

[K_Jameson]

Well, here we have the two launch pads, Alpha and Beta, with two placeholders instead of the final rockets. These are early prototypes.



Here, detail of the base of the Alpha launchpad, with the rocket supports, tail umbilicals, sound suppression system. As you can see, it is configured for a maximum of four boosters, for heavy lift, even though the standard configuration in my Moon scenario will have only two.



The various umbilical/access arms are a bit complicated. This is a not-yet-definitive layout for the Alpha pad (tower omitted). Integration tests with the vehicle have been documented back in the thread. For the Beta pad (the smaller one), everything still needs to be done.

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Pad looking good. Looks like hold downs missing for cener core on Beta pad. Does beta pad not support singe si´tick versions? Kinda prefer to have a Tower were you can see the stutrs/beams simlar to Saturn V, Shuttle FSS. JUst my opinion.

 

[K_Jameson]

Sorry, Beta is the small one. As for the core supports on the Alpha launch pad, I still have to decide whether or not to install them. On SLS, Ariane 5, and many others, the rocket is held in place only by the boosters; the core doesn't rest anywhere. The problem with the center core is that the expendable and the reusable version have different geometry and thus a reconfigurable support would be needed.

A tower as the Pad 39 would be welcome, but I must also keep an eye on the polygon count. With a highly detailed lattice structure, the numbers would explode. Anyway, we will see, I'll decide on the launch pads once the rocket configuration is frozen.

 

[Spaceman 3D]

So the 8.4m reusable core stage will need a diffrent pad?

 

[K_Jameson]

No, same pad:

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Is a single stick version of the 8.4m core planned? Were are the legs on the reusable core?

 

[K_Jameson]

A single stick 8.4m core was considered, but is not currently planned. The only single stick will employ one of the 5.8m boosters as first stage. The legs will find space in the aft skirt, but I still have to add them.

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Suggestion for a possible future design. Everyone is copieng STarship when it cones to resable Upper stages. So it would be nice to habe a Reusable Upper Stage with base first entry like Stoke Space Nova or one of Phillip Bonos SSTO concepts (example http://www.astronautix.com/s/sassto.html). Combination of Heatshield and Aerospike type engine. Maybee based on the current HES.

 

[K_Jameson]

I have actually considered the aerospike+heatshield configuration, and even produced some preliminary 3D sketch, but it would have required a new engine design and this would have required further research to ensure it was realistic. I wasn't confident enough I could make something believable. Furthermore, I didn't want to add any more engines to the mix.

This could still be an option for the future, but in the scenario I have in mind, HES stages (specifically HES-4) will play a different role in the sake of reusability: a Earth-Moon ferry to deliver propellant in LLO, to be employed by the yet-to-come Auriga reusable lander.

 

[K_Jameson]

Regarding the core stage, I must also point out that the aspect ratio is probably too high to ensure stability in a tail-first reentry, Stoke Space style. With a vehicle so elongated, the Starship approach was more credible IMO. I've also considered a winged glider configuration but the numbers didn't add up: it was too heavy in my calculations.

 

[Spaceman 3D]

A Spaceplane would also be cool. For LEO Spacestations Launched ontop a Nova 1.

 

[Spaceman 3D]

Think this is worth keeping an eye on

Update Thread 'Multistage2026 - Development thread'

Dec 13, 2025

Dear Orbiter Forum Friends:
As you all know, I encountered more errors in Multistage2015 than I could possibly address. Given the project's large size, I came up with the following idea:

Rebuild all of Multistage from scratch.

That is, discard the original Multistage2015 code, even with the modifications I had made, and start gradually with a small module, adding functions as they become functional. In other words, little by little. First the parser, then the Orbiter callbacks, and so on.

And before and after adding functions, compile and test.

For this, I will use the following...

• Matias Saibene
• Replies: 137
• Forum: Addon Development

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