An Original Sci-Fi Ship Design - Spacedock

[@Spacedock]

I should point out that I'm not good at doing unscripted videos so I kinda rush and ramble a bit here, for example - It was not my intention to make it sound like the coilgun causes literally zero recoil. Also, it's not too clear in the image, but the back of the primary hull is sloped in such a way that the 4 forward-most maneuvering thrusters can be locked to face straight forward for retrograde burns.

[@vichodeivis1219]

Use the coil guns to maneuver the ship and we will forgive you XD

[@RhodesianBushmaster]

Nah man, you were great! Love the unscripted video, it makes you more... human? The scripted ones are almost disconnected, more like a narrator than a person behind the video is how I'd describe it (don't get me wrong, they're perfect for informative videos, but this one is more personable, which I like). Also; amazing ship design and engineering behind it! I especially liked the heat sinks and torpedo tubes.

[@nefariousgremlin7554]

Excellent concept for a fictional space craft (and congrats on 100,000)

[@galbert117]

I swear if the captain of this ship is named Arthur & the head engineer/doctor is Merlin.....

[@alvarohernani6645]

I beg you to do a video about any of the space-ships from the 2009 movie Avatar.

[@zerosen2141]

A minimalist, down to earth, converted Warhorse that uses proper Newtonian Physics for direction control and propulsion.... A wise man once said... "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Gwen here is, in all honesty, "Perfect" by those standards. The size, scale and addition of a stowed Rover remind me a lot of the Serenity, if that ship were more than just and unarmed transport.

[@TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA]

the ship reminds me more of the roci from the expanse, except that ship has no large cargo bay for a rover, and only a few gatling guns instead of auto cannons, both have torpedos

[@robertpalumbo9089]

Be a fighter make a fighter etc it is proper operation

[@mattstorm360]

Because of the rover, i get the feeling of the Normandy.

[@Spacedock]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for your viewership and support over the last two years, and thanks for taking the time to check out my work in this video. I'd recommend you go to full-screen as I originally intended these images to just be writing aids for me so they're not brilliantly suited to KZbin resolution. - Daniel

[@SupermanBlack1987]

congrats dude.

[@pixelnaut8076]

I think a fixed thruster is needed for braking, but i love the design otherwise. It wont be very good at braking is all.

[@willjiggetts6682]

I love your voice

[@SupermanBlack1987]

Oh also there are tricks to making your ship look cooler. Just by taking things from around your place and making them into part to your ship. one thing my graphics teacher told me was don't think about the scope of the projeck just start putting together shapes and it will all come together in the end just remember your idea.

[@Awesomsimity]

Great design, if u do add windows keep them digital. There is no good reason for windows on a space warship.

[@cirelancaster]

A big issue I see is that the majority of habitable spaces are well forward of the center of mass. Meaning that whenever the ship yaws or pitches, anyone in those compartments will undergo high g-forces.

[@rookonzo1436]

I said the exact same thing lol. He just needs to beef up the mid section a bit.

[@joshuataylor7978]

Artificial dampening with that grav plating?

[@Perkustin]

Sci-fi universes usually have to get around this issue with so-called 'inertial dampeners' fitted to the crew compartments, Stargate's Earth starfighters are a good example. Seeing as he's already admitted to going for anti-grav for convenience i don't think inertial dampeners would be a stretch.

[@srbrant5391]

My ships use paragravity, but with decks arranged vertically in case it fails.

[@thebudgieadmiral5140]

I love the idea of a ship consisting mostly out of RCS clusters. Absolutely amazing and very original.

[@thesealsharkproductions9780]

Even better a Hab space station module coverd in 3-5 nozzle RCS Clusters

[@shinyagumon7015]

I came back to this video to remind myself where it all began. I'm so excited for the Sojourn! You did it Daniel!

[@pebegou]

Six years later, and being a sucker for realistic space flight, and a 3D artist, I must confess that I shall incorporate this design in some creation. I love the gigantic blocks for thruster, RCS and crew separated. I loved it.

[@themetalstickman]

Overall design reminds me of the _Rocinante_ from The Expanse, I'm sure that was intentional. I like the _Millennium Falcon_ style lift airlock, although I'm not sure how practical it would be. I like that the small, low-mass ship uses coilguns to avoid powerful recoil. Would larger ships in this setting employ spinal railguns, or do you think of railguns as less advanced technology? Looking forward to potentially seeing it in action.

[@kamoinar1905]

themetalstickman You mean MCRN Tachi

[@CzarOfMars]

Yep, the whole ship screams Rocinante to me

[@yourcurtainsareugly]

Why does it seem like the Rocinante? It's oriented in a completely different direction, for one, swapping height in the habitable space for length. That alone is a huge difference.

[@hebekiah3623]

More like a small Battlestar Galactica

[@MSpacer]

yourcurtainsareugly I think they're referring to the angular hull shape with the autocannons on rotating hard points and a whopping huge drive at the back. I agree with you that it doesn't look a whole lot like the Roci, but it shares some design themes.

[@KrisHandsome]

Just over a year later, seeing The Sojourn come to fruition is a beauty to behold.

[@757Poppy]

It seems a little lacking in the fuel department. Especially if you are using chem rockets.

[@otheraccount5252]

*drift

[@kalocsaizoltan6425]

6:19. From Newton's third law you can see that there is always recoil when you are accelerating an object, no matter the mechanism. In a coilgun, not just the coils pull the bullet, but also vice versa. I loved the design of the ship, I just wanted to point this out.

[@Chemo735]

You beat me to it.

[@jamesjellis]

Not to mention the thrusters responsible for turning the ship are too close to the center of mass which would mean INCREDIBLY poor turn rates.

[@UltimaSigmarAlonso]

Congratulations for the 100K thanks that you showed expanse to me

[@TaisharEnder]

Aaaaannnd, the sojourn is live folks!! But seriously watching the progression of this story has been just amazing.

[@someonewithsomename]

1:30 nothing will probably stay the same some years later: everything stays the same

[@salisar83]

I love how much thought you put into the practicality of the ship instead of just going for look first and function second.

[@JustTooDamnHonest]

"Treat her like a lady and she will always bring you home."-Admiral Lenard McCoy.

[@Khanclansith]

Suggestion; instead of windows in the captain cabin, have an interior wall be coated with the holographic material so the captain can put up what ever they want up as a background and use that as a mcguffin to sho the captain mood.

[@arandomcrusader-9355]

I like it, but....hear me out here. I say we add more rcs thrusters.....we need all of the rcs thrusters. (ACTUAL THOUGHTS): In all seriousness I like it quite a bit but it's weapons are distributed with a massive bias towards a frontal cone of fire thus hampering combat from any other direction, the aft has very little point defense coverage, and if we are going with a high realism sci-fi then long range combat will be extremely difficult as a torpedo from the rear would essentially be impossible to eliminate. The cone of fire is very forward heavy but adding a few pdcs to the rear should eliminate the issue or at least mitigate it. My second issue is the hull, the rcs block is very narrow at both ends and can easily be torn apart. This is a massive weak point and could be counteracted by some ablative armor around the ends or by making it more compact (larger doesn't mean it's better by default). And the sub deck is also a massive danger, a massive ammo stack directly below the primary room and the quarters is just asking for trouble especially if that side has no weapon or pdc coverage. But that's less of a problem as ammo rooms are a necessary danger.

[@arandomcrusader-9355]

High Inquisitor Ralph Hence why they are needed

[@vichodeivis1219]

But the ship looks promising... I say Daniels needs to embrace it. Have one or two characters comment it and someone answer "Want one of those? Buy one and go to ########" Or a more reasonable one commenting that this one is lighter and faster.

[@arandomcrusader-9355]

Vicho Deivis Fair enough, I do agree that it is extremely promising but I still would like to point out flaws.

[@sefladrone5873]

BYZANTINE GALACTIC EMPIRE

[@paulomr445]

Yes those are some of the flaws I find as well. Small firing arc for a ship of it's size (needs dorsal and ventral turret), exposed maneuvering thrusters with no back up ones and it also seems to have a poor yaw. Other than that seems solid

[@awesomeperrymexd7180]

Honestly quite interesting and, true to your word, original. I've been working on my own sci-fi military vehicles, but I'm more focused on ground vehicles. Nice design and vid, SD.

[@Yaroslav8]

Congratulation on the 100k subscriptions. An interesting ship design. From what I understand you are trying to make something like a ship from The Expanse. I have 3 issues with this design. First the torpedoes being ejected sideways. The larger bay door is more vulnerable (and needs a stronger engine to move a larger part of the hull). As your torpedoes reorient anyway I would make round ports facing sideways. Or I would make forward facing ports and use a less powerful coil gun technology to give them some extra starting speed. Remember that your design for launching torpedoes has no way to get them away from the hull at fast speed. That means that when you turn in combat and launch a torpedo the ship needs to stop turning or risk smacking into the ejected torpedoes. Sitting duck for enemy coil gun for a couple of seconds. Ejecting them sideways also gives less surface for the ejection mechanism to work with (imagine wheels pushing it out either sideways or along the length) so you either need to stay on the same heading longer until the torpedo gets far away from the hull so it's main engine won't damage the hull and you won't smack into it or you need a more powerful ejection mechanism (which will increase maintenance). Either launch them forward so when they get to the target it will have the ships speed in addition to the launcher acceleration (so it will approach faster, meaning less time for point defence) or find a way to get them away from the hull fast. Secondly is your turrets. They are not manoeuvrable enough to work as point defence. If torpedoes are used often enough point defence, ecm and decoys are a must. Or the first torpedo ends the fight. Thirdly is your placement of manoeuvring thrusters. Simple physics will tell you that placing them near the centre of mass is a mistake (levers and points of applying the force). The farther from the centre of mass the less power you need to turn. Also they should be placed equidistant from the centre of mass (or you need variable power RCS and a good operating system to compensate).

[@757Poppy]

For reference material I would highly recommend the atomic rockets site.

[@srbrant5391]

I always have a tab open to that site.

[@ShiftyMcGoggles]

After spending the last 3 weeks killing myself in dev work for a scifi-ship game...You've revived my love of hard-scifi that I was almost fed up with thanks to trying to code things.

[@markmarano913]

I really like it! It looks agile yet sturdy; an engine arrangement that looks applicable in real life while still having a sleek profile. The Guinevere is a lady with brains, brawn, and beauty.

[@amf1435]

I absolutely adore your professionalism and incredible passion you have for starships and sci fi. This channel has so much potential, all thanks to you.

[@Spaceman404.]

I`m going to make a guess that the faction that developed this class only made the one because it was a primarily a technology demonstrator type of vessel to show that the tech on-board it was useful in a spacecraft and later built a less costly version for mass production, similar to the USS Sea jet was for the Zumwalt class destroyer class to test its tumbledown hull. PS. are the auto-cannons dual purpose? Like they`re used for both ship-to-ship and like a CIWS?

[@jamesjellis]

They only build one because they realized it was incredibly poorly designed. The guy saw The Expanse and made a cheap knockoff of the ships he saw.

[@afruitlesshippo]

I remember when this channel had only 1000 subscribers, I'm so glad it has grown so much.

[@munmunmurmur4920]

The quality of the content that's being made from this channel is amazing. Really looking forward to what you're making.

[@MrBigCookieCrumble]

Yeah some windows would probably be added in some very non-important points, they'd probably be very small but could be very useful for visual inspections of certain parts of the ship, without the need to put on a suit and go outside, people also like to look outside sometimes, could be good for mental health for longer deployment. Also, i do love the fact you've added heatsinks, something you almost never see! i'm completely in love with this channel and its content and you guys just keep on giving so much goodies. thank you for your hard work!!

[@Gryphons_gaze]

Gotta say I absolutely love her. She is a wonderful design and I can see you put a lot of detailed thought into the design and it really cones together to make a wonderful ship. I do have one thing that stuck out in my mind, however it is a very minor consideration. In order for the person inhabiting the captain's cabin to reach the galley they will have to either pass through one of the dormitories or otherwise pass through the whole munitions area. I realize that this is a military design focused on a crew of 8 people, but I could see issues if the CO wanted some coffee and had to pass through a bunk room, potentially disturbing crewmen who just came off of third watch, to do so. Like I said, minor detail.

[@willis32]

Nice design. Instead of offering windows in the C.Os cabin and the med room you could add view screens or something. Like large tvs that can play an atmospheric scene or even have a live feed from a hull mounted camera?

[@Valkyriel]

Aye, starships should never have windows. If an arm of the military is best suited to man a spaceship it would be the Nave, as spaceships will be like submarines.

[@willis32]

Lord Inquisitor Yes but surley a military vessel of any kind wouldnt allow such a blatant weakness on the hull

[@planetfall5056]

Not to mention lasers can pass right though them.

[@1215298]

Neon Demon "Geth do not use them"

[@MrHws5mp]

You could have such screen in all cabins (bigger for higher-status ones, and then the 'wallpaper' pictures that people choose to display can tell you something about their character.

[@jaredleroy9876]

What a preposterous design with those vector engines! And don't even get me started with the flanges on the graywater pipes.

[@pranavsingh5666]

Beautiful. Appreciate the design focusing on a mix of tangible and intangible realism

[@1234kalmar]

I like One-Of-a-Kind designs in almost everything. I designed a shiip for some short stories. The ship itself was a prototype, made for a tender to serve as a "combat freighter" but the company lost the competition, went bankcrupt, and the prototype was stolen from a depot by the main charachter a year later.

[@leggodt6340]

As a artist I really enjoyed this and I wish you well on your project!

[@SultanOfAwesomeness]

Happy 100k! It's about damn time!

[@Slim_1914]

I know you said nothing was probably going to stay the same from this draft but it looked like it stayed pretty much the same lol. But love the ship. Makes me think about drawing is ship I had in my mind now for years

[@armedmage]

Love that the design is both practical and beautiful.

[@chrisaguilera1564]

Well done Daniel and congrats. The greatest designers are not artist but visionaries. You my friend are a visionary.

[@shadowtheme96]

"Windows are structural weaknesses. Geth do not use them." :3 Keep up the awesome work!

[@Maribro4]

Love the design and the sound of the world you’ve created has got me interested. I truly admire what you’ve envisioned and I wish I could do what you do.

[@seskal8595]

Congrats dude!! Well deserved 100k, your videos never drop in quality. Favourite YT channel rn

[@SnazBrigade]

Neat! Designing space ships is probably one of my favorite parts of my writing. My only question would be, is there any reasoning to the sorta hour glass shape between the main sections? I imagine that might be a tactical weakpoint, it looks like there's practically no lateral armor there. I like it! It looks a bit crocodilian at the front. If some bandit/raider/military types get a hold of one, they could paint it scaly green and give it a toothy grin decal, maybe call their ship "The Caiman" or "Gharial".

[@jamesjellis]

It is one of the worst designs I've ever seen from a purely utilitarian perspective. The directional thrusters are WAY too close to the center of mass meaning incredibly poor turn rate. The torpedo tubes are poorly designed.

[@hillzachary01]

Really, really cool ship design. I like the realism a lot. Can't wait to see what else you may give us to tease your series.

[@ralterdrake556]

It's a nice start, I can see the influences of The Expanse as well as Star Citizen and Mass Effect. I do have some critiques and suggestions to ergonomics though. The first is the single-person airlock. I can't for the life of me see why that would be there, especially if it's pointed in the same direction of the cargo bay doors, which also acts as a vacuum bay. I'd move all the EVA suits to the hallway/airlock connecting to the Ops room, as well as perhaps the one connecting to the engine bay as a backup. Either that or have that Locker room connect directly to the cargo bay by itself. That way a crew can jump out of a rack, slide down the ladder, grab their guns and jump in a suit, and jump into the airlock as quickly as possible. Having a single airlock that does the same thing seems superfluous on a military ship, not to mention dangerous with the single-file exit. If there is to be a second airlock, it needs to go up or out the sides. Secondly I have thoughts about the RCS cluster... the idea is interesting, but only if the majority of the mass was in the center. In this design, the biggest open area is in the center it seems. While this may make sense on a real cargo hauler... for military again, not so much. For realism sake's, I'd also address the nozzle sizes. Chemical rockets use nozzles that let the gas pressure of the rocket equal the gas pressure outside. In atmosphere, that leads to narrow and short rocket bells. In a vacuum... it's zero pressure... so you literally want as wide a nozzle as you can possibly get. With them on rotating sockets of course, this poses an issue if you don't make them also very short... which is perfectly acceptable. Of course another solution would be to use perhaps something cooler looking, and that's aerospike engines in the ballsockets. Due to the physics, these engines don't need a bell at all, and automatically adjust for the pressure, which makes them perfect for landing as well. Perhaps even have retractable pylons that each socket rests in, so they extend further out for space flight, and retract for atmospheric. Which of course means the ship would have to rely on aero surfaces for maneuvering, as their primary thrusters are tucked in so close that their effectiveness is servery impacted.

[@EternallySlaying]

I like the ship, feels good and down to earth. However I would note that it shouldnt be particularly manuverable, due to the placement of the rcs block not being able to take advantage of the lever effect from being far from the center of mass. Of course the g forces at the bow could get nasty, so advantages apply to both ways.

[@L0stEngineer]

You could estimate the thrust from the size of the expansion nozzle, but my off the cuff assessment is that those things are big enough that you'd probably lose your lunch in a prolonged turn fight.

[@EternallySlaying]

Jonathan Schmidt Either way, having the rcs spread out would more efficient fuel wise, and you could dial them down to compensate. But with this design you dont need to pump the fuel as far. Still its a very good design and stands out nicely. Though a thing of note as well is the thruster bells should be MUCH wider if this isnt atmosphere capable, because you want the pressure in the bell to be as close to ambient (0psi) as possible to increase your isp. For a real life example, the falcon 9 main stage has the same engines as the 2nd, but the 2nd has only 1 with a huge bell to be efficient.

[@yourcurtainsareugly]

I feel like "down to earth" is not high praise for an interplanetary vessel :P

[@kyrook]

I really liked this video. Being someone who loves making his own ships/universes, this was enjoyable to watch. I'd say make more, but that would be asking too much. I for one can't wait to hear more of this universe you're working on.

[@PainterVierax]

nice work. Remembers me ten years ago when with screenshots I was trying to make a plan of the Serenity Firefly-class ship for drawing a Perspective homework.

[@calebw979]

the torpedo "launchers" remind me of how an F-35 stores its onboard missiles in stealth mode, they deploy and fire off and close back up.

[@atlastheta]

This sounds amazing! You knowing the ins and outs of sci-fi doing their own thing is what I've been hoping for forever!

[@shadowstar5810]

It’s a really cool design that reminds me a lot of ships like the Rocinante (which is what I’m guessing you were going for).

[@Tibsteronice]

Really excited for a Spacedock submission that has some significant length to it!

[@LordPaladin]

Just seeing this design and plan has me hyped for whatever story you make! Can’t wait to hear more! :D

[@laviesergeenko8306]

This is why I love sci fi. Wish I could have been there to write with you

[@ozzy5628]

If you made these plans, I'd say you're an artist. Can't wait for The Sojourn

[@briansmith5579]

What a great design, thanks for sharing it. I love how even with sci-fi tech like artificial gravity the design follows logic and reason for its layout; the maneuvering engines is a brilliant idea. Good luck with your story, I can't wait to see more of it.

[@prussian-krieger2991]

i really love the design, especially the use of a coil gun. they aren't used enough in sci-fi/sci-fantasy for how cool they are

[@Grambo-qp4pp]

I like the ship design, something that helped me was looking at modern day military war ships and cargo ships

[@Namelessthe3rd]

Hey Spacedock, good call using EM weaponry for a space-based weapons platform, however I would like to note: Coilguns do have recoil, in fact they recoil as much as any railgun of the same energy. A big difference is that coilguns don't need to involve a contact point between the projectile and your barrel, allowing much higher velocities to be achieved without ripping apart the barrel (as opposed to a railgun, where the projectile acts like a giant electrically charged scourer).

[@cmbaz1140]

Awesome ...i designed my ship when i was 6 and i have been working on it since then ...im now 27... Half of my ship can be build actually with todays tech...and im working on a iron ion engine prototype in my garden ...then all i need would just be a suitable energy source... Good luck on your series.

[@josephschadler9443]

Really like the concept and aesthetic of this craft and really looking forward to seeing your series!

[@shadowien74]

Very good work, I love to see concept art. We all have to start somewhere. Nothing helps that visual representation.

[@Talondas]

I was a US submariner for 16 years and that is the closest I will ever get to being on a spaceship while being stuck here. BSG pulled heavily from both Navy and submarine influences when it designed the interior of the Galactica. I've been a sci-fi fan for decades and love hardcore, reality-based stories whenever I can find them. I spent a lot of time daydreaming underway that if we had stellar combat craft, patrolling a section of space, this is exactly what it would be like. Or while being on an SSBN, it would be like living on a stealth, strategic mobile missile platform deployed near a hostile moon or planet. Both would play a cat and mouse game...and me in my 20's was going "This is the coolest job ever." But design, form, and function have been and are subjects I have spent a lot of time thinking about. If you want to pick my brain...like say why the captain's cabin or at least a their at sea cabin should be directly behind the bridge. The role of navigation, sensors, and comms. Why hydroponics should be twice the size of its control space and the need for storage for repair parts, repair shops and stores, not just cargo. Why is the ice cream machine on the electrical bus considered vital to ship's operation? I'm you're man. Passageways are narrow to maximize deck space. Cramped does not even come close to describing them. Just offering. It may give it a bit more of a BSG feel and a lot less of Traveler with a heavy Expanse influence. PM me if you want to chat, I'm on FaceBook by the same name.

[@dreadnought-ai]

Wow, just wow. So many of these features would look so good cinematically/visually, The guns, the dynamic heat radiators and the Manoeuvering system of course. Plus I love the way the torpedo launcher shunts them out, reminds me of a submarine missile launch. I’ve seen other people ask about the FTL, it being critical to the plot, so needless to say I’m very interested and look forward to seeing it in The future, whenever that maybe :)

[@prime3967]

i haven't drawn a spaceship in years so i might draw this its really cool concept and i definitely can't wait for more of this story of yours

[@stephenjdutton]

Can you move the manoeuvring engines further away from the centre? The further from the centre of gravity they are the more effective they'll be.

[@TheOneWhoMightBe]

Agreed. Real vehicles like the Shuttle have the thrusters at the extreme ends so they provide leverage.

[@jeffanderson8165]

Two thoughts; one would be if he adds small maneuver jets, like the ones on the Vipers in the reboot or the RCS thrusters on the Space Shuttle or Gemini capsule might provide the additional, off centerline thrust you're looking for. The other thought would be if the existing thrusters were capable of rotating about 110 degrees, their perpendicular thrust to the centerline of mass might be enough for proper roll, pitch, and yaw delta vees.

[@jlokison]

Just an engineering perspective and thinking 3 dimensionally the cluster off center (unless the forward section is a lot less dense than I think the other sections are) has advantages and disadvantages. Good for boosting forward thrust, breaking, landing, spinning on main axis or sliding in any direction. However they will use a lot more energy than needed for changing orientation. I would place additional and smaller thrusters as far from the center of mass as possible (leverage applies as long as Newtonian physics are involved) how many or how big these are depends on the rotational force your artificial gravity systems can compensate for, or the crew can handle, however if fixed you need at least 4 in each set, depending on the orientation change needed 1 to 2 in each set will be firing to pivot and then opposite ones would fire to stop the pivot, or different ones if the pivot needs to continue but change again. The big thrusters can help but being closer to center of mass means they need to use a lot more energy to change orientation than those farthest from center of mass, more energy means using more fuel no matter what the source is. To quote an old scifi and social comentary writer TANSTAFL

[@user-kf9cd2di2x]

They're chemical rockets. No need for leverage

[@Stukov961]

Supportive* William uh, what. Doesn't matter what it is that provides thrust, it still gets more effective the more leverage it has.

[@medevilenemy]

At the risk of being annoying, a few technical notes: - Using big chemical rockets for RCS purposes is interesting, but would probably have poor precision, and require a great deal of fuel as well. Furthermore, the gimbaling of those motors in the necessary manner could actually induce vibrations/etc due to the slight changes in mass balance - A thing that is usually overlooked even by people inclined to realism in sci-fi is that projectile weapons would be essentially useless in any reasonably predictable form of space combat due to detection ranges on the order of hundreds of thousands of kilometers at least (assuming adequate computational power to analyze sensor data, which is a fairly trivial problem to solve). Directed energy weapons are very nearly accessible today, and most definitely will be even in the near future once fusion reactors are developed. (Projectiles of essentially any type would travel far too slowly to hit except at extremely close range. Torpedoes and such would likewise move far too slowly and wouldn't have nearly enough fuel to maneuver meaningfully) - A viable spacecraft of any appreciable size will likely be incapable of atmospheric flight due to the extreme fuel requirements (and the extreme lack of aerodynamics that a practical spacecraft would likely possess). - For any appreciable distance of travel, it is probable that chemical rockets will be impractical even for primary thrust. They're just too inefficient. Various forms of plasma thruster are already theorized or in development, and are likely to be more practical due to their dramatically higher efficiency (thrust levels will be much lower than rockets, however, but the efficiency makes up for that). - Those heat sinks (really, radiators) are interesting, but are likely to be inefficient due to the need to channel waste heat from the rest of the ship to them, and would likely negatively impact mass balance as they are moved. Furthermore, they would likely contribute to a fairly immense aft thermal signature. That said, it's a cool looking ship (though impractical, I'm afraid), and I generally enjoy your videos.

[@hammadsheikh6032]

No need to worry about the aft thermal signature, as there is no stealth is space. There could be a good in universe reason for ships using chemical engines, such as abundance of fuel, ease of fuel storage, or no need for power generation, which produces heat. And projectiles have a number of characteristics that complement energy weapons. Combining those two weapon types makes for a balanced ship.

[@badbeardbill9956]

Actually there’s tech we already know of which could accelerate projectiles to hundreds if not thousands of km/s. The limitation is likely to be how fast and how accurate you can aim. Combat may actually be much closer than you’d expect.

[@medevilenemy]

@@badbeardbill9956 the thing about space is that it's really really big, and EM radiation goes way faster than any projectile possibly can. So the real limitation is in sensors, not in aiming. With sufficiently sensitive sensors, we should be able to detect ships at tens of thousands if not millions of miles away, if not more. The kind of technology to accelerate a projectile to an appreciable velocity would give off fairly huge EM spikes, which would be detectable literally minutes (at least) before a projectile can reach it's target. The target can then easily move mere meters and the projectile would miss (and keep going). A missile would move much more slowly to begin with, and almost certainly couldn't carry the necessary fuel to both maneuver and accelerate to a high enough velocity to hit anything. Thus, the only practical weapons in space (assuming sensor technology isn't completely neglected) are things that move at or near the speed of light... which means directed energy weapons and particle beams (which raises all sorts of interesting tactical questions)

[@badbeardbill9956]

@@medevilenemy Sensors are going to be able to see every warship from the Sun to the next solar system. This tech already exists, it's only going to improve. Sensor range is dependent on a variety of things, but it's likely that every ship in the solar system will be tracked. And closely too. Space is huge. But you're already making the assumption that ships can aim at appreciable distances. A 1 km long ship at 1 light second would be around 3 microradians. To hit it (ignoring relative motion and possible acceleration in the time it takes light to travel) would require an incredibly advanced targeting system, both in terms of software and hardware. The hardware would be much more advanced than the software - the software is stuff we could develop today. But there isn't a single piece of hardware today that can handle that. Remember, we're talking lasers with immense energies. And we're assuming the ship is 1km long. Ships can be much smaller or they can even orient themselves to expose the smallest cross section. And that's before getting into relative velocities and accelerations. The hard part is going to be the aiming. MatterBeam suggests a 10 meter mirror. Probably has to be reasonably thick to avoid getting destroyed by the laser. Moving that thing would be difficult. Target acquisition and tracking may take so long that by the time you get a firing solution they've already sprayed your hull with kinetic impactors. Particle beams are more efficient than lasers and can potentially be effective weapons. But they suffer similar problems. The best weapons are going to be guns. More advanced guns than we have, but guns nonetheless. The ranges of engagement will likely be less than 0.1 light seconds, mainly due to hardware limitations. This is a fuzzy line but it's just damn hard to hit stuff accurately, especially if you want it done fast. Of course this also means lasers would have an easier time of it as well, but they've been described as blast furnaces that produce coherent light as a byproduct - they do much less damage for a given ship mass and much less for a given energy. Considering the limitations on effective range, guns will likely be the most common weapon, followed by particles beams. Maybe even Casaba Howitzers. Space combat will require fast target acquisition and fast "turn to target." This limits effective range, no matter the weapon used. Lasers are unwieldly and make for inefficient weapons. So guns will be more likely.

[@c_hawkranger9066]

Congrats on 100k!

[@mrsaltyauthor5992]

Rad as heck mate, from one science fiction writer to another I'm really interested in this and don't worry if you think your sketch work is bad you should really see the rough sketches I've got for the protagonists ship

[@w33leeg23]

Really looking forward to seeing more of your work. Love the fact you have decided to base the ships around regular chemical engines - I think that could be really interesting. Nice work mate.

[@benjamintanderson5735]

i like the autocannon turrets on the sides of the ship, ive never really thought of a structure quite like that before

[@steeler180]

Very cool on the 100,000. Your ship looks cool! Good luck and can't wait to see your story

[@ulisesguzman8574]

This is amazing! i love the design of the ship its much more grounded and realistic than others while still allowing itself some liberties and it looks exactly like a small military warship should look. i absolutely love your work, congratulations on the 100k they're very well deserved and here's to 100k more

[@collguyjoe99]

Simple, but classy. I'm getting a Venator/BSG hybrid vibe.

[@monarch3335]

I know I have already commented here asking about coilguns and railguns and the difference but I have an important message: Hello Spacedock, Probably like many others, I am a kid with an imagination, and by kid I mean high school student. I first started writing in my seventh grade year with [now that I look back on it] pretty bad science-fiction. Last year, I was browsing KZbin and I searched up stuff about science fiction. That's how I stumbled across you. As far as I've seen into your channel, your videos have helped me write better science fiction. I recently COMPLETELY restarted a sci-fi story that I was working on for a very long time because the technology and plot elements didn't add up. It's not a bad thing, but a good thing. The fact that these videos helped me write better and look back on my "realistic" sci-fi is something that I take on a personal level. Thank you. PS: I should probably be working on my essay right now.

[@Spacedock]

Thanks so much for your kind words. I wish you the best of luck with your writing. :)

[@nutcasefilms6040]

Congrats on reaching 100K! I can't wait to find out what other stuff you come up with. The amount of detail you've sunk into this one ship while revealing relatively little has certainly piqued my interest. I really hope that you find everyone/everything you need to make this a reality. Keep up the good work!

[@Dontlicktheballoons]

I swear man, you are my favorite channel. Keep doing what you do good sir!

[@fourtenphoenix4822]

Seemed a bizarre design at first sight, but I really like your ideas. Developed properly this could be really awesome. Congrats on 100k!!

[@sabinor2560]

Ship looks great! Love that you referenced the Interstellar ships those were so cool

[@Myname-il9vd]

Maybe the coolest ship design I've ever seen tbh

[@nicolasbrown7384]

Very interesting video and I can't wait to see how your ship's development changes as you get to work on the project more!

[@davethebeard2706]

My beautiful wife approves of your design because you quite sensibly added bathrooms! I do have to agree, almost all sci-fi franchises never seem to need to use the rest rooms... The only ones I can think of that did were spaceballs and ice pirates.... All that said, I truely love your design, it is very well thought out and look forward to hearing more about your story line and any other visuals you may show in the future. Keep up the Damn good work!

[@ActualSpectra]

"4 years later, I revisit this abandoned site, scrambling around copies of the records of the Captain's log, and feel enthusiastic to know this blueprint was now put to purpose in an improved model, despite being a prototype." *- Spectra A.Lite Phantom* Tantalus Explorer, Pioneer System.

[@50mt]

It's always a good day with a new Spacedock video.

[@pettersonystrawman9291]

I think there is one point missed, that for rotating the ship, you want to get as much leaverage as possible, meaning you want some manouvering thrusters as far from the center of mas as possible. Thrusters that are close to the center of mass are still handy, for pushing the ship around in different directions at different angles, but for rotation, you could implement, possibly without any significant changes to the look and layout of the ship, smaller set of thrusters at the tip and at the back of the ship, just four thrusters in four directions parpendicular to the forward thruster. Also those side guns could at least have some wiggle room up and down, without necessarly being completely rotatable in that direction.

[@blackasp001]

The Frame Shift Drive in supercruise mode from Elite Dangerous even though it's used for intra system travel is an effective FTL in its own right, capable of speeds over 2000c (warp 12.6 old money)

[@matthewmetz3610]

This is a great draft design! Very realistic and well thought out. One critique: the area that connects the forward section of the ship to the cargo bay/aft section is rather small... It looks like it would be the most vulnerable spot to attack, given that it would cut the engine off from the rest of the ship. I'd consider some reinforcement in that area. Otherwise, it's a very forward thinking design that looks very iconic already

[@NivekH420]

Congrats on 100k. Really like the ship design. Love the the ships name and class name. Really looking forward to seeing it in action good luck

[@davidabonyi4556]

Kudos for you, I really like your ship. As positive criticism/advice I would add that A; don't use chemical engines. I don't know what your ships' engines burn, but if it is something similar to what NASA, Roscosmos (best name for a space agency, hands down) etc rockets use, then your ship would need to carry awfully large containers, or be restricted to short range missions. Just switch to fusion. B; Having 8, directional, moving engines kind of makes the main engine redundant. If you remove the main engine, the four engines toward the back of the ship can happily take it's place. It would also justify having not just one big engine and using rapid spinning manouvers with RCS (like in the Expanse) for umm.. Manouvering. Engines are big, easy targets so having 4 instead of 1 makes sense, just like on a plane because they can be easily shot down. C; MOAHR firepower is always better (or at least welcome) so I would switch out the coilgun turret for a bigger, spinal mounted gun. The ship is obviously very manouverable, so it doesn't make sense to sacrifice firepower for a better firing arc when you already have the latter (by being agile). D; Instead of just hanging around, blocking your PDCs' firing arcs, make the radiators retractable. So instead of widening them to compensate for more heat generated, they're just extended further. Perhaps you can play with the idea that ships build up heat anyway during combat and only cool themselves when safe, leading to situations when your crewmembers are sweating from heat because they've been fighting *insert your antagonist organization here* ships for far too long. In my Sci-Fi (which I sadly didn't work on for a year) I also use thermal clips, like Mass Effect weapons do, but for ships. Ships heat up during high-G burns & combat (or maybe they want to quickly go into heat stealth) and they jettison these clips heated to thousands of degrees. To better facilitate this, ships have a complex maze of heat exchangers that transfer most of the heat onto either the radiators or the clips. E; If you use "gravitic plating".. How much energy does it eat? If huge amounts, then they shouldn't be on military ships (but definitely on pleasure yacts and the like) or restricted to the captains, XO's and guest cabins. Ooor, maybe they're switched off (or among the firsts to be) when that lovely anti-capital ship PRO-TAUN BEEM needs more energy. F; As others have said before me, the midsection of the Genie (maybe Jinni? As in, from the Arabian folklore?) is very weak structurally. I would add plate armor or better yet, four supporting beams connecting Genie's ass and the back of the "head of the crocodile". Next, the engines are too close together and to the center of mass. Move them farther out and they'll work like a charm. Ps.: Idunno if you did the ship's emblem yourself, but if's amazing. Keep up the good work.

[@qfinck]

I'd suggest the VASIMR drive for the main engine. www.adastrarocket.com/aarc/VASIMR en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_Specific_Impulse_Magnetoplasma_Rocket I'd think you'd want RCS in the nose. Think of the Starfury and how it has its RCS as far out on the ends to help improve maneuverability. Also, you should reinforce the bulkheads on the torpedo rooms. Nothing like chaining internal explosions in your ammo to ruin your day. See any video of a Russian T-62/72/82 series tank exploding for why. As for the weaponry I think it's fine. This is a corvette probably similar in size to Serenity. There really isn't much space on vessels that size. With two autocannons that can rotate and cover the rear plus torpedos that have off axis fire capability, even to the rear though inertia will bite you on the ass for any engagement like that, the aft segment is covered.

[@travcollier]

If you have grav tech of some sort, then a main engine that is fundamentally different than the maneuvering engines could easily make sense. I'd make the aft section larger, so the ship looks more balanced around the middle/RCS/thorax, and make it mostly contain a power generation and fuel section instead of something that looks like a chemical rocket engine. "Drift" would involve the power unit going into overdrive (extending radiators) and either generating a gravitational gradient the ship surfs or some sort of warp/mass-reduction field.

[@simonwinn8757]

If they are really chemical engines, then 90% of the internal volume will be full storage.

[@davidabonyi4556]

NightRaven 1901 Oh why thank you. Another thing that's mostly missed is armor protection for the drive cones. Nothing fancy, just plate armor so a stray pdc round won't be going to put a hole in your engine. I really like to design spaceships, but somehow they always come off as slightly aerodynamic bricks with back wings (radiators).

[@davidabonyi4556]

NightRaven 1901 If the gravity plates are switched off in combat, does that mean your ships are aligned like buildings, instead of umm.. ships? Or are the intertial dampeners always on? Also, do you use fighters? If so, are those just scouts, or screens or full on, ww2/bsg-style weapons that do the actual job of fighting?

[@TheDewok12]

I found your channel only recently, but I really really really really like it. Definitely interested to see what this original project looks like.

[@josh6499]

Congratulations for getting 100,000 subscribers! You've earned it!

[@pretzelbomb6105]

Love the idea of this comic and cant wait to see how it turns out. I also have a rough idea I always thought would be cool, but I’m not a rocket scientist and don’t know if it’s would be viable. Basically: It’s a less a ship and more a deployable defense outpost which can be dropped or shot torpedo style. It would either float freely or attach to something solid like an asteroid, derelict, or even an under-defended station or capital ship. Depending on its size, it would have a heavily if not purely defensive armament of point defense and short range fighters which are designed to dock flush with the hull instead of using a hangar to save space. It’s not designed for long deployments with most space being used for combat facilities such as ammo and fuel storage, communications, computers, and fairly basic cabins and medical facilities, as they aren’t gonna be long and most injuries will likely be fatal. I feel like it would either be a pod shape or flat on one side to allow for easier attachment. Also, I can already see abandoned pods being used as homes, scrapper refineries, terrorist strike basis, criminal hideouts, etc. just putting the idea out there as I can’t remember seeing anything like this anywhere else.

[@dustrider5274]

I've got to say I'm digging that patch most of all.

[@ImNtDead]

Love this design definitely makes me think of a Colonial Viper or a Earth Alliance Star Fury with those thrusters and the heat sinks make me think of Star Wars. Absolutely fantastic and I hope to see more similar ship designs from you.

[@weldonwin]

I've gotta find my old sketch pads, if they still exist, because I had a really awesome stealth warship I drew about 15 years ago, the Stalker class gunship I think I called it. What I recall of it, it was sort of an angry turtleshell shape if that makes sense, domed hull with retractable rotating pods for manouvering engines, with the weapons being missile based mostly and pulling in and out of the shell to minimise the EM and thermal signiture. I was on a B5 kick back then and facinated by high realisim sci-fi, I was also rather facinated by stealth warships in sci-fi that didn't use some magic cloaking technology.

[@paulsellers1531]

Happy 100000 subs! May your channel continue to grow.

[@Awol991]

Checking out all the Sojourn stuff. Having the center thrusters firing all the time and internal gravity means you can do a constant evasive action jig and attempt to dodge rail gun and pdc attacks.

[@jonathangibson9098]

Nice work Daniel. Looking fwd to the final product.

[@jordanwhite1010]

Congratulations Daniel on 100k. Great ship design and thank you for showing it off. I know it is hard to show something that is still in the draft phase and face the criticism here. That takes guts to do. I do have some questions. 1) Please go over the coil gun vs. rail gun. 2) RCS thrusters vs other types. 3) Have you considered a Point Defense System for this design? Could you use a drone or remote system for additional defense

[@DevilSurvivor69]

Congratulations on 100K subscribers! Your channel is great reference for sci fi ships.

[@spiritofthewolf15x]

I like it. It's minimalistic yet functional, as a ship should be. If I could change one thing I'd go with multiple, smaller RCS clusters along side the four large ones, I think they'd provide more fine tuning of the orientation.