KeedMartin Skunk Works entered the MSC program as a subsystem vendor with afterburning jet engines and an OMQ dispute about payload figures. They now operate a deep-space probe in solar orbit, the best deep-space camera in the program, and three modules on the station the other contractors built. The VAJE argument is still ongoing. FARVIEW-1 is not waiting for it to resolve.
KMSK · Active portfolio
Final Stage Orbital Maneuver Engine
Mounts between payload and the KOEING SLS2 third stage — adds a high-impulse injection burn that extends the delivery envelope to destinations the SLS2 cannot reach unassisted. No new vehicle required. Two launches, two successes: POTHOLE module to LSI 1, and FARVIEW-1 solar orbit insertion. KerbalX compatibility: none planned, none needed.
Deep-Space Imaging System · FARVIEW-1
Radiation-hardened, deep-space optimised derivative of the POTHOLE-CAM optical design. KMSK identified the station module's astronomical potential within hours of reviewing crew imagery and contracted a stripped-down hardened version for FARVIEW in parallel with delivery operations. Orbital Mechanics Quarterly confirmed 0.3 arcsecond resolution — the first time they have corrected our figures upward.
Vertical Afterburning Jet Engines
Air-augmented 0–25 km, gimbaled thrust vector control. Flying on KerbalX Starship Heavy 4. OMQ confirmed 6–8% payload improvement versus the 15% we published. The debate continues. The engines are on orbit.
High-Resolution Optical System · LSI 1
Developed for the Kerbin First Daily's station module. Resolves to ~0.4m at nadir. Incidentally capable of high-quality astronomical observation — which the station crew confirmed within hours of activation. CLEARVIEW-1 derives from these optics. KFD still uses it primarily for potholes. Katdorf Kerman uses it for deep-space pointing during night passes. NASA has catalogued all astronomical data.
Deep space · Solar orbit · CLEARVIEW-1 active
First MSC asset in solar orbit. Self-funded by KMSK.
Launched on the FSOM+SLS2 stack with no NASA mandate and no contract. The FSOM provided trans-Mun injection and solar orbit insertion. CLEARVIEW-1 captured the Mun's surface during the gravity assist flyby — OMQ called the resolution “comparable to purpose-built planetary probes.” Then FARVIEW-1 sent “The Farewell Shot” — Kerbin and the Mun in a single frame from departing trajectory. 4.2 million shares in 48 hours.
From solar orbit, CLEARVIEW-1's first deep-field image contains an anomalous point source in the upper-right frame. NASA has not responded to two press inquiries. KIA interest in FARVIEW-1's observation targets is confirmed. At least two planned observation targets are in the direction of the unknown object. FARVIEW-1 is repositioning.
Engineering data
Station portfolio
Three modules on orbit. More KMSK-designed or delivered hardware on LSI 1 than any contractor except KerbalX — the entity that owns and operates the station. We arrived with a hab and a cupola. We redirected the entire observation program through our optics.
Long-duration crew quarters, KerbalNet uplink, FSOM-delivered. Solar arrays deployed by Huddin Kerman during EVA-002 — zero anomalies. The reason MSC-003 could leave two kerbals on LSI 1 and call it a stay rather than a visit. The first KeedMartin hardware people actually live inside.
EVA monitoring, docking navigation, utility staging. Increasingly used alongside the POTHOLE module for coordinating astronomical observation — Katdorf Kerman runs POTHOLE pointing sessions from the OBSERVE cupola during night passes. The coordinates she is targeting are not in the public record.
KMSK didn't build POTHOLE. Kerbin First Daily funded it, pointed it at roads, and published a pothole on page 1. KMSK designed and flew the FSOM stack that delivered it — first operational FSOM launch. The optics we recognised in that telescope became CLEARVIEW-1. KFD still hasn't updated their editorial position on the space program. The telescope is still mostly photographing potholes.
Heritage
KeedMartin Skunk Works enters the MSC program as a subsystem vendor. VAJE air-augmented engines fly on KerbalX's SH-4. OMQ publishes its first KMSK correction — 6-8% vs our stated 15%. We note that the engines are flying. OMQ notes that this is not what we claimed. The conversation continues.
Two LSI module slots. RESTLESS delivers long-duration crew quarters. OBSERVE gives the station its EVA coordination hub. Huddin Kerman's EVA-002 deploys the RESTLESS solar arrays without anomaly. That is a different category from afterburner nozzles. KMSK has hardware people live inside now.
First operational FSOM launch delivers the KFD POTHOLE module to LSI 1. Station crew examines the telescope within hours and identifies its astronomical capability. KMSK identifies the same capability within the same hours and begins CLEARVIEW-1 design. KFD publishes a pothole. KMSK files the optics spec.
Self-funded. No mandate. FSOM+SLS2 carries FARVIEW-1 through trans-Mun injection to a Mun gravity assist to solar orbit insertion. CLEARVIEW-1 captures the best Mun imagery ever transmitted, then “The Farewell Shot,” then an anomalous point source in the first deep-field image that NASA won't identify. Ion engine nominal. FARVIEW-1 repositioning. KIA interest confirmed.
Fiction note: KeedMartin Skunk Works (KMSK) is a fictional division in the Kerbal Internet setting. All programs — VAJE, FSOM, FARVIEW-1, CLEARVIEW-1, RESTLESS, OBSERVE — and the anomalous point source are in-world storytelling elements. This page shares continuity with the MSC universe bible v10 and the broader Kerbal Internet project.
