Landscaping begins

Ground works have begun on Ascension Island.

Just a little teaser shot of the concrete floor plan laid down for Wideawake International. It shows the 2 main runway positions and marks the areas where spaceport facilities will be built (coloured areas). The old launch facility is in the far corner.

This is early artwork to confirm the layout. More detailed work will be done, as will the addition of the domestic runway. Currently the debate is whether to resite the vertical launch facility or place the 3rd runway further north.

Ascension Project Phase 2

AIA is curently planning the considerable Phase 2 building works that will upgrade the Wideawake Launch Facility on Ascension Island, in readiment for the Toehold Project.  When the work is complete, the spaceport will be renamed Wideawake International.

The work includes considerable re-landscaping of the south west corner of the island and dramatic expansion of the Wideawake facility to make it a viable, large capacity spaceport for the future.  This includes infrastructure to support a wide range of launch and landing needs including vessels that represent the future of space flight, Altea Aerospace’s XR series craft especially.

Once phase 2 is complete the facility will have the following infrastructure:

Toehold Project on the drawing board… again.

Ok, so following my last announcement, there is a chance I will start work on a new orbiter project. At the moment the Toehold Project is getting a revisiting and is currently in the design stage.

The current concept is to create a substantial (near-future style) Lunar stop-off station in LEO around Earth, on a lunar plane. It is designed to be a ‘half-way house’ for the exploration and colonization of the Moon.

The project has been on the back burner for ages and is now getting a thorough re-visiting. Users will be able to build up the station in sections, as per the mission plan, over a series of flights, or combine the pieces into their own design, or simply use a completed station mesh in any way they like. The XR5 Vanguard and Ascension Island are the selected vessel and launch site of choice to fly the construction missions, although some other launchers may also be suitable should the user prefer. If all goes to plan I will get this project finished in a few months… if all goes to plan…

This may also include making a Vanguard expansion pack for Ascension Island, in order to properly cater for the beast!

I will keep this blog updated with project development as and when it appears.

All AIA development ceased (restarted)

Development work has restarted again, see other blog categories for up-to-date information.

All development of Orbiter addons has been ceased for the foreseeable future, due to the fact I am turning my attention to a more substantial project for a 3D game engine currently in development.

I want to thank all those who have downloaded and enjoyed any of AIA’s addons, I wish you all the best in your future Orbiter endevours.

Whether AIA will return to Orbiter addon development in the future is uncertain at this time, although it is unlikely.

Vanguard modules

Work has started on AIA’s first module for Altea Aerospace and the XR5-Vanguard.

The Habitat for Orbital Operations and Payloads (HOOP) is a platform designed to increase the duration and capability of the Vanguard whilst on orbital operations. It will fit into the front of the payload bay, extending the exisitng hab structure of the Vanguard, but leaving plenty of bay space available for additional payloads.

The module will include:-

-Extra storage and living space (with windows).

-A robotic arm for orbital payload manouvers with arm control station.
-Solar panels and radiators for additional power and heat management.

-Additional airlock for EVA’s (under consideration).

Here are some very early screens of the design, giving an indication of it’s format. It shows the module in both transit and operational configurations.

Big dumb booster model update

I finished the first run at texturing the BDB yesterday. I’m not totally convinced I like it tbh, but it’s a start. Also it’s just nice to see her on the pad, finally making use of my huge tower at Ascension. I’m not sure when I will be finishing this though, I just thought I’d get this stage done. Updates will be posted when there are some.

Here’s 2 screenies of the BDB on the pad at Ascension. (I’m having trouble getting orbiter to look smooth on Vista, anti aliasing at distance is nasty, so scuse the picture quality).

Projects update

Ok, little project update here.

The BDB development is currently on hold whilst AIA applies it’s engineering knowhow to payloads for the XR5-Vanguard. It is expected at this time, though not confirmed, that the Vanguard will become the launch vehicle of choice for Project Toehold. At this stage it is undecided what part, if any, the BDB will play in the Project and therfore it’s development may be scrapped - although AIA recognises it may still need a large cheap launcher for heavy unmanned payloads, so no decision is being made at this time. AIA also recognises the need to keep funding it’s operations and the BDB may have use in this regard. Updates will be posted in future.

New rig up and running

I have my new PC up and running, and so far have had no real trouble with Vista64 and compatability.  I plan to start some dev work again in the coming week.  The BDB will get finished, however I’m also hiring out AIA services to the Altea Aerospace and the XR5 Vanguard project, should they be required - this will take priority over the BDB in the short term.

A note on the BDB:  Texturing is almost complete, so the next major job is coding it’s SC3 and Multistage files.  Then of course I plan to make the space station modules for the first stage in the Toehold project.  Although I will likely release the BDB without payload as a beta format, once it is ready to fly/test.

PC trouble

My PC broke at the end of last week, so all work has ground to a halt. New machine should be up and running shortly, so hopefully dev can resume next week.

BDB SRBs

Another little update showing the new SRB details and mounting brackets.

The whole mesh (exluding payload) is under 5k polys, I plan to use textures to add the real detail.

Texturing should start today or tomorrow.