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Launch Escape System Launch escape system

Kerbodyne by

Radial size Small Cost (total) 1 000.00 (dry) 982.00 Mass (total) 1.13 t (dry) 0.90 t Drag 0.2-0.3 Max. Temp. 2700 K Impact Tolerance 15 m/s Research Landing Unlock cost 4 500 Since version 0.23.5 Part configuration launchEscapeSystem

Maximum thrust (1 atm) 666.67 kN (vacuum) 750.00 kN I sp (1 atm) 160 s (vacuum) 180 s Fuel consumption 56.65 /s

Thrust vectoring No Fuel 30.0 Burn time (1 atm) 0.5 s (vacuum) 0.5 s Testing Environments On the surface Yes In the ocean No On the launchpad Yes In the atmosphere No Sub orbital No In an orbit No On an escape No Docked No Test by staging Yes Manually testable No



The Launch Escape System (abbr. LES) is a tower which can be placed above a command pod to safely pull the crew off a rocket in case of an emergency. It behaves like a solid rocket booster as it is fueled by solid fuel and that it can only be activated once. Compared to other solid fuel boosters, the LES has high thrust and high efficiency. The thrust is slightly tilted to steer sideways and clear the rest of the rocket. This gives it significant potential for putting a lander back in orbit around the celestial body on which it has landed, provided there is no atmoshpere, and the body has low enough gravity.

Due to the low amount of solid fuel it only fires for half a second. But, because it usually only pulls itself, some accessories like parachutes and a command pod, the LES's thrust-to-weight ratio is high. For example a combination of one Mk1-2 Command Pod, for which the LES fits the best, two Mk2-R Radial-Mount Parachute and the LES itself only mass 5.38 t which results in thrust-to-weight ratio of 14 on Kerbin.

Product description

“ This solid rocket tower is designed to wrench the command pod up and away from a malfunctioning rocket. ”

Changes

Initial release

See also