Kerbin SOI Fueling system setup

So far I have spent around ~6M$ in setting up the whole system in this career save.

The system is functional, but can not yet be used to it's full capacity because I still miss more Ore miners and at least one more 15k ore container to join the fleet.

Most of the building was done, after I had finished the Tech Tree and while waiting for my first probes to reach Duna.

Minmus space station and ground base

Minmus mining operation

I was lucky in that save to have one of the richest ore concentration on Minmus in a Flat.
The 2 forefront vessels are ore miners and hauler, each with a capacity of 9600 ore units.
In the background a refinery truck and two Liquid fuel + Oxidizer hauler. These 3 vehicles are not used anymore.

Minmus space station: MiSS 02

Top of the station is mainly use for Kerbals accommodation.
  • crew compartments for 28 (only Hitchiker are counted for crew compartment, the other modules being working space)
  • science lab
  • cupola
  • capsules docking node
  • communication relay
  • electrical production (RTG + Fuel Cell + solar array)
  • radiators.
  • ISRU: use to distance communication array from crew compartment
Bottom part is the Fuel depot area:
  • 35k Liquid Fuel
  • 18.5k Oxidizer
One section addition is still being planned, to distance the docking port directly under the electrical production segment from the solar panels:
  • 15k ore container
  • second ISRU unit
  • truss segment (empty orange tank)
On the screenshot are also docked several vessels which will be described below. The vessel are nevertheless:
  • 1 ore miner which haul the Ore from Minmus surface
  • 3 reusable transfer vehicles (docked for refueling, or waiting for a mission needed them)

This station will only be used to refuel haulers in the future, the refueling of other missions being done on the Kerbin orbital fuel depot and refinery (KeSS 02) shown just below.

Kerbin space station: KeSS 02


The station is fully functional.
As with MiSS 02, the top part is used for Kerbal accommodation
  • crew compartment for 28
  • science lab
  • cupola
  • capsules docking node
  • Electricity production is also at the top with solar arrays, fuel cells and RTGs
Bottom part is the Fuel depot area:
  • 70k Liquid Fuel
  • 37k Oxidizer
There are still some planned addition:
  • Crew capacity raised to 61
  • Third ISRU
  • Another Senior docking hub as the existing one is already quite busy with the fuel depot and ISRU ?


With a 15k ore container, a chemical transfer vehicle and a nuclear transfer vehicle


Actively used vehicles.

Chemical transfer vehicle: Hades 2 mk1
This is the transfer vehicle mainly used in the Kerbin SOI, and also for Duna duties.
Simpler than the Hades variant it has superseded, it only has 2 fuel tanks, and use only one type of fuel (LF+Ox)

Nuclear transfer vehicle: Hades N mk1.m

The nuclear transfer vehicle is used to haul 15 ore container between Minmus and Kerbin.
A secondary role is to transfer crew between Minmus and Kerbin:
  • Crew capacity: 12

This vehicle will also be the main transfer stage for the « manned » interplanetary travels (except Duna for which I plan to stick to Hades 2). When used in this role, the crew will of course not reside in the cramped crew compartment of this vehicle.

MiSS 02 surface shuttle mk2

This is the second version of the Minmus Surface Shuttle.
This vessel is used to carry Kerbals between Minmus surface and the space station:
  • Crew capacity: 7
In the background the Hades 2 mk1 vessel which brought the shuttle to Minmus.

Ore Miner mk2

The ore miner mines 9600 ore units and bring them to MiSS 02, after landing, and when fully loaded there ~700m/s of Δv available which is more than enough to enter Minmus orbit and rendez-vous with MiSS 02. The vehicle much however be refueled after each mission. A planned improvement for a second version is to have a small ISRU on board, and refuel while mining, which would avoid taping into MiSS 02 fuel depot storage.

Another planned improvement is to have kerbal seat on the vehicle so that an engineer can come on board to improve mining efficiency if needed. Some of the ore is refined directly on MiSS 02, but the bulk of the ore is brought to Kerbin.

Ore tanker
Ore tank + reusable transfer vehicle: Hades 2 mk1

The standard Ore container for transfer between Minmus and Kerbin contains 15k Ore.
As shown above, the transfer vehicle does not have enough Δv to transfer the ore from Minmus to Kerbin without aerobraking.
So the liquid fuel transfer vehicle was replaced by a nuclear transfer stage as shown just below.

Ore tanker + reusable transfer vehicle: Hades N mk1.m

The same ore tank than before, but with the nuclear transfer vehicle.


Obsolete vehicles

Chemical transfer vehicle: Hades
Obsolete: Hades (a.k.a Hades 1)

The only Hades transfer vehicle. Might be considered as a prototype of the idea. With it’s 25 fuel tanks and 2 types of fuel (LF+Ox and Monopropelant) the vehicle was a pain to refuel. This lead to the design of Hades 2.
This vehicle is now in a parking orbit around Minmus.

MiSS 02 Surface Shuttle mk1
Osolete: Minmus Surface Shuttle mk1

First version of the surface shuttle for Minmus:
  • Crew capacity: 6
Docked to MiSS 02, no use for it is planned in the foreseeable future.

Minmus mining operation, obsolete vehicles
Obsolete: Liquid fuel + Oxidizer miner/refiner and haulers

Before I settled on bringing ore to MiSS 02 and refueling it there, I planned to refuel on Minmus surface, meaning I would need:
  • mining and refining unit: the truck attached on the side of the foreground vessel
  • liquid fuel + oxidizer hauling vehicles: the one in foreground was developed to fuel one Hades mk2 in one trip, the one in the background was kind of a prototype
  • liquid fuel hauling vehicles: never developed
  • monopropelant hauling vehicles: the liquid fuel + oxidizer hauling vehicles have some monopropelant hauling capacity (1k units)


One more thing
  • Some videos of interesting moments in the play are available there: KSP 1.2 (main)
  • The album of most of the screenshots being taken during this play is there: KSP 1.2 (main)




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