IST Explorer MK3

Specialized Research Space Shuttle.

It is the first fully operational and functional space shuttle ever designed by IST team.

Launched by rocket, there is really no need to turn on the orbiter's engines during ascent to correct trajectory or pitch, precisely the first stage was adjusted and redesigned for that particular task.
The first stage is redesigned, calibrated and prepared to maintain the general balance of the vehicle at all times, the fins are to prevent it from rolling, this is due to the aerosustaining effect of the shuttle.

During the launch, special care must be taken before leaving the atmosphere, because it is launched by rocket, the tanks empty and the balance is lost at a certain point, it is recommended turn down thrust as it looks like it's going to pitch violently, there will be a point where it's best to shut down the Engines and go straight to the orbiter stage.

Once the first stage is separated (it is completely separated, the boosters should not be separated under any reason, it will cause the entire structure to explode, apart from having a vital compensation function) go over to nuclear propulsion, if needed you can give a little more thrust with the rcs motors but often not necessary, at this point you don't need to worry too much about by the pitch of the shuttle, if a more suitable orbit is required, simply try to align the engine (not the ship) in the direction of the orbit prograde.

One of the reasons its delta wing is huge is because it was primarily designed to take off directly and ascend into space (single stage to orbit configuration) it was reconfigured to to be only an orbiter since its aerodynamics were not especially superior to previous shuttle delta wing designs, it has excellent lift but is poor in aerodynamic performance. They even had to reconsider adding jet engines to pilot it after re-entry since its sustainability is enormous although it produces serious stability problems, it's just better slide back to the runway.

Contains a habitat module and a mini lander on board (currently in lunar transfer configuration at the time I upload this).
The mini lander must be separated from the cargo bay remotely and docked in the main port of the shuttle, it has very little fuel so I recommend reducing the orbit to not running Out of fuel. Although if you have a lander with an ascent stage it is better to engage it in a rendezvous with the shuttle.

The shuttle was primarily designed for interplanetary travel, although it is not efficient to transport two at the same time by removing payload, so its use is limited to lunar transfers. It works well enough even to have thermal nuclear propulsion as its primary thrust source.

It is really very efficient but it has not been tested for transfer to Cylero so for now it is limited to lunar transfers.

It has no interiors as it's not a particularly strong point of the build, it was designed to be very reliable.

Have fun :)

Set Physics to Ultra.