Dig through the salvage yard for parts, bolt together a rocket, and get your crew past 100 km without it falling apart.
Dig through the salvage yard for parts, bolt them together in the hangar, and launch from the pad. Each day you can search for better junk, and your goal is to get your crew past 100 km without the rocket falling apart.
Pick a part, then tap a blue slot on the rocket. Tap a mounted part to take it off.
Numbers are the flight engineer's estimate. Air, heat, and wobble decide the rest.
Thrust-to-weight (TWR) must be above 1.0 or you never leave the pad. Around 1.3 to 2.0 works well.
Δv (push) is how much speed your fuel can buy. You'll roughly need 2,200 m/s or more to reach space.
Stress builds when you go fast in thick air. The weakest part breaks first. Strut Rings add +30 strength to their neighbors.
Stability comes from nose cones, fins, and steerable engines. Lopsided boosters or fins make the rocket spin. Tall stacks wobble.
Heat hits the very top of the rocket. A cabin with nothing on top will cook. Nose cones protect it.
Crashes cost parts. Everything on a failed rocket is lost except the cabin, which parachutes back.