Orbital Station (NTM: Space)
Orbital stations in NTM: Space are an incredibly valuable mode of fast and cheap transport which provide a large blank space in orbit where you can build factories and workshops.
Orbital stations can also be used to launch satellites into orbit. Satellites can be launched from a station by right-clicking into empty space while on the station. This will launch the satellite into orbit around the currently orbited body, saving on the cost of a full launch vehicle.
Launching
To use an orbital station, a station root port must first be launched. In order to do so, a port must be crafted and loaded into a fairing, and then a sufficiently strong rocket must lift it into orbit from a rocket launch pad. Station ports are crafted in an assembly machine like so:
Loading the station port into a launch ready fairing is also done in an assembly machine:
Once you have your orbital station ready for launch, you'll need to construct a rocket in a vehicle assembly base that is capable of lifting it into orbit. It has a mass of 64,000kg meaning you'll either need a powerful rocket, or to launch from a body with reduced gravity.
In order to facilitate the launch of the station, and to determine whether or not your rocket design can reach orbit using the flight planner in the VAB, you'll need to produce an orbital station drive in a StarDar, which can be done by loading an empty drive and clicking ORB (for ORBital station). Make sure to clone the station drive in a drive processor before launching the rocket, or the station will be unreachable!
Visiting
To visit your newly launched station, you can use a regular landing capsule and the orbital station drive. Upon reaching orbit in your capsule, you'll be transported to your station, which will at this stage just be your root station port in orbit around the planet the station was launched from. Blocks and machines can be placed on this port to build out the station. The capsule can be used to return to the orbited planet with no fuel cost, but this can only be done once, requiring another rocket to be built.
In order to save on fuel and make transporting to and from an orbital station a breeze, a reusable drop pod is available. It must be fueled with hydrogen and oxygen in order to operate, but will be able to return to the station at will. This drop pod is built in an assembly machine with the following recipe:
Please note that: as the station is in the vacuum of space, players must be equipped with a PLSS in order to survive, or an oxygen ventilation system must be installed into fully sealed rooms.
Transporting
Orbital stations can be more than just stationary, they can be used as a primary mode of transportation around the solar system. To this end, a station computer can be constructed, which can receive programmed planet/moon drives to begin a journey, or even toggle gravity in pressurized rooms on the station. A station computer is constructed in an assembly machine with the following recipe:
There are thrusters available that work in tandem with the station computer to provide the required thrust to move the station from its orbit in order to perform a given journey.
Xenon Station Thruster
This station thruster runs on quite cheap fuel, requiring only xenon gas and a large amount of power to run. In most cases, more than one will need to be installed in order to travel without limitation. It is crafted in an arc welder like so:
1,000mB
Argon gas can be found in the atmosphere of Duna
LPW-2 Station Thruster
The LPW-2 thruster runs on jet fuel and oxygen, it has high thrust, but poor ISP, requiring large amounts of fuel to operate. It is crafted in an assembly machine like so:
LPW-3N Station Thruster
The LPW-3N thruster is designed to be connected directly to an access port on a PWR. By default it runs on superheated hydrogen produced from running liquid hydrogen through aforementioned PWR, but it can also be run on:
- Uranium Bromide
- Plutonium Bromide
- Schrabidium Bromide
- Thorium Bromide
This thruster is crafted in an assembly machine like so:
HTR-F4 Station Thruster
The HTR-F4 thruster is designed to be attached directly to a plasma heater in the place of a fusion reactor, consuming the searing hot plasma and turning it into insane amounts of thrust with blisteringly high ISP. This thruster is produced in an assembly machine with the following recipe:
