XR-2 Ravenstar
The XR2 Ravenstar is a high-performance spacecraft created for Orbiter by the Altea Aerospace team. The XR2's concept, mesh, and sound effects were the work of Steve "Coolhand" Tyler. Coding work to add multiple subsystems, failure modes and UMMU support was done by Douglas Beachy, as with the other vessels in the XR series. The initial 1.0 release came on October 8, 2008, the most recent being 1.50 on May 13, 2012.
Design Concept
The XR2 was designed as a single stage to orbit, reusable spaceplane able to carry up to 14 passengers to low Earth orbit along with about 10-11 metric tons of cargo in its bay. The exact design parameters for the XR2 have always been variable, depending on the preferences set by a user in the configuration file, but with realism settings set to their highest levels, the XR1 provesquite challenging to fly succesfully. Scramjet engines are typically used during the bulk of the ascent to orbit, providing most of the velocity needed to reach orbit in the high atmosphere before conventional rocket engines are used to provide the final orbital insertion.