Polaris Launch vehicle

alright I broke my promise, I just used Solid Motors + to have stability in flight

now that im less angry at a game for having realistic physics and I promise even if it kills me I will make a ripoff Ares 1 work without using the tweak menu

Yeah a solid rocket first stage (not as strap on boosters but used by themselves) are unfortunately very hard to control not having engines that can gimbal (which some in reality can actually do and should be a feature in game). I did manage to solve that problem somewhat by using very large “multidirectional RCS” but…
……
I ultimately gave up on an Ares I type concept because the price of solid rocket engines spiked dramatically in one of the more recent updates! Two and a half years ago I could make an orbital launch vehicle using a solid rocket first stage (with engine) for around 1/5 the cost of a liquid fueled equivalent. But after that update the price increased so much that the liquid rocket version actually became slightly less expensive!

also I was doing more of a Ares - I approach then a side booster approach

@Darthan184 Delta - V wasnt the issue, neither was the TWR

To use solid boosters as the first stage (usually side attached) I've found that a delta-V of around 650m/s with a TWR of 1.5 (at the surface) works well. They run out at around 4km altitude so design the second stage engine to work at this altitude, again with a TWR of 1.5.

alright it refuses to fucking work and its really fucking pissing me off, so I'm gonna completely redesign it cause clearly there's some fucking flaw with the design

alright turns out solid motors as a first stage are a very bad idea, so im gonna find a more liquid solution to that problem