Spaceplane Landing – Steam Solo

Overview

So, you’ve made a fancy spaceplane and got it into orbit? Nice job. But maybe you’re not sure how to get back to the runway from orbit. My guide will help to point you in the right direction so you can hit the runway every time.

Adjusting your orbit.

Alright, your spaceplane had made it into orbit. Whether it was a space shuttle or a SSTO, spaceplanes are largely made for one purpose: Landing like an aircraft so they can be safely recovered. Since full part recovery happens when you reach the KSC, it’s vital to de-orbit your vessel so you land at the KSC. I will use my latest shuttle mission as an example on how to proceed.
Your mission is a success, now it’s time to bring the pride of the KSP home. First you’ll want to shrink your orbit to 100k AP and PE, ideally with a 90 degree inclination, or an equatorial orbit since this will be the simplest.

De-orbiting burn.

Now that your in a circular orbit of 100k, we can prepare our descent. Locating the KSC on the map is easily done by planting a flag at its location. The real space shuttle did its de-orbiting burn on the opposite side of the planet from the landing zone, so we are going to replicate that maneuver.

First we set our node:
Starting from 100k, bring the PE down to 40k. It’s important to move the node as needed, since PE needs to be directly over the KSC at the time of the burn. Remember to compensate for the planet rotating, simple enough as you can move the node at the last second.

De-orbiting burn:
Nothing really complicated, just burn towards the maneuver icon until results match. Using RCS can help fine tune so the PE is closest to our goal. When done your orbit should look something like this:

Bring it on home.

Nothing too fancy here, just try to keep the plane oriented on a neat level trajectory.
Try to pitch the nose up when you start to see the re-entry effect, this will help with bleeding off extra speed. Gravity and atmospheric drag will finish the job of de-orbiting and bring you down. You should be able to see the KSC at this point.

Hopefully before going to space, you tested the ability for this craft to glide. It is likely you will not be perfectly centered with the runway, but as you descend, the air will get thicker, making your control surfaces more effective, allowing you to perform course corrections and get her lined up.

When touching down on the runway it is important to keep an eye on your vertical velocity. This is the gauge next to your altimeter. Pitching up will reduce this speed, however it can also cause you to start climbing. Keep it below 5 m/s for the ideal touchdown.
Depending on the structural design of your craft, hitting the runway too hard can be disastrous.

Variables and contingencies.

Unfortunately, while the 100k AP, 40k PE leads to the most favorable results, the end isn’t always consistant. Fuel supply, cargo, and general mass of the craft can lead to different reactions when landing. In my recent case, the orbiter ended up coming short of the KSC. If you have a reasonable fuel supply, this can easily be compensated.

Now let’s look at the same scenario should you overshoot the KSC. Same descent profile as before, but this time I added 1500m to the PE to compensate for the weight difference. (crashing on the runway may or may not have had something to do with the do-over.)

This time I overshot the KSC and was presented with two options: Continue my path and try to reach the island runway (Which I was high enough to probably make it) Or attempt to turn around. Your altitude may be too high, but you may be low enough to put her into an effective nose dive. While I couldn’t line up with the runway, I was able to get low enough to swing around the KSC.
It was then a matter of simply lining up with the runway and bringing her down gently.
Depending on how far you overshoot the KSC you may be forced to resort to the island runway, or to ditch in the ocean. If you’re flying a SSTO with jet engines, that’ll give you more flexibility as far as reaching KSC from an error.