I accidentally wrote "every parts" in the title and I don't really know how to change it so sorry xD I won't be review every single parts here, just rockets.
In this blog, I'll be writing about different rocket designs based in real life and also the fictional ones that are included in the game too and give my opinions and rate them. Note that what I refer to "rockets" here means that they are based in real life (and thus no N1 with Saturn V second stage xD) and only includes specific parts in game, but for some rockets like Ariane 5 where there's no designated second stage for it, I'll clarify and explain :q
Small rockets[]
Mercury-Redstone[]
This is just a basic rocket and in real life since there's no second stage (except for the small retro rockets on the capsule), I'll take the Tug Module as the second stage. It's not really that bad, and it's especially nice with the Solid Boosters and the Delta II 2nd Stage, but overall, it's doesn't really stands out too much. 7/10
Titan II[]
This is an especially useful rocket which has a relatively high percentage for a pretty cheap cost. The Titan second stage is mediocre (to say at least xD), but one can always put the Delta stages or the Soyuz 2nd Stage for extra power. When combined with the Long March Solid Boosters, it looks exactly like the Titan IIIC (and onward). I've found myself using this all the time in Career mode as well as some in Sandbox too so . . . 9/10 :D
Long March[]
As cool as it looks, it unfortunately despite having more thrust on the first stage actually lies somewhere with the payload capacity of a Mercury-Redstone with boosters and the Titan II with boosters. I've never realistically launched this rocket as it's not really cost-effective compared to the other two. 5/10
Medium Rockets[]
Proton[]
Despite having very promising first stage, it's actually is pretty under-powered especially for heavier payloads. In real life, the Proton-K is comparable to the Ariane 5, but in the game, it's certainly doesn't live up to expectation. The second stage is arguably one of the best in the game as it's the most powerful one (tying with the Eagle 8 Second Stage) and can even lift the Refuel Silo!. The problem with this rocket is that it's not like it's not able to reach orbit and beyond with its payloads, it's just too heavy and even when the second stage still have plenty of fuel left in reaching orbit, the first stage most of the time will just underperform. It looks cool though, but it's too expensive so I've never really used in my missions :/ 5/10
Saturn IB[]
Unfortunately, despite being the absolute coolest-looking first stage in the game, it's simply too heavy, and it burns out too quickly. This deadly combination combines with an another very inefficient Saturn V Third Stage makes it impossible to carry anything substantial to orbit, and for the uppermost part of the atmosphere during the flight, it's the Apollo CSM that does all the work. Had the first stage burned longer, it would've been a very decent rocket. 4/10
Nooleus[]
Despite the very strangely-shaped first stage, it's actually a very capable rocket when combined with either a Tug Module (Medium) or an Orion Service Module for relatively low cost. It works best with the basic solid boosters and it's certainly pack a punch xD 8/10
LP1[]
Currently the only reusable stage in Career mode makes it the best choice to launch anything to orbit (albeit not too heavy xD) as it can be refunded. In my opinion, it also looks kind of fat with the bulge-out middle section but other than that, it's pretty decent. 8/10
Black Arrow[]
Also a very cool rocket. Andy being a Briton certainly contributed to the fact that this was the few rockets in the game that actually has all of its component specifically added (the other one being the Saturn V, Titan II and &c.). For the real configuration with the Black Arrow First Stage and the Black Arrow 2nd Stage, it's not bad at all, but it doesn't really stands out too much. It's certainly a slightly cheaper and weaker Soyuz rocket, but when combined with some boosters, it'll be a lovely one. I personally don't really use this much since the Ariane 5 and 6 despite being a tad bit more expensive have a little bit more performance and will guarantee my payloads will reach orbit safely. 7/10
Ariane 5[]
This is the workhorse of my space program. The second stage can be substituted by the Tug Module (Medium) and it can lift most payloads to HOM's orbit (except for some exceptionally heavy ones, of course xD) and I've used it on par with the Titan II one most of my career missions :D It also looks very lovely and I like it, just like the real Ariane 5. Unfortunately, after mission 30, the Ariane 5 quickly becomes irrelevant as the Ariane 6 not only is available at a cheaper cost, it's also more powerful and more capable! However, for the majority of Career mode, you can count it in :D 9.5/10
Ariane 6[]
A very powerful rocket which first stage is the few in the game that has the whopping 94% rate. There's not much to talk about it as much of its role is similar to the Ariane 5, just with more performance. 9.5/10
Soyuz[]
Well, I don't really know if this should be a Medium-sized rocket or a Small-sized rocket, but since nothing in the small category beats it, I'll just go with medium xD It's a good one for launching the Orlets-1 satellite and the Soyuz spacecraft. It's not terrible, but its full configuration is not used much by me but rather the second stage on top of an another small rocket (Titan II) which is really useful since it's very powerful. 7/10
Delta IV (Heavy)[]
A very amazing-looking rocket, and comes in for a hefty price too xD Performance wise, it's a more powerful Ariane 6. I mostly use this in Sandbox as I couldn't afford to use it in Career mode, just like in real life where this thing is just incredibly expensive. The performance increase doesn't really offset the cost, plus the second stage despite being decently powerful burns up very fast and doesn't have RCS, so I guess I'll rate it a 7.5/10 xD
PSLV[]
To be honest, I don't really know what to say about this. It's certainly very powerful and would be incredibly useful for launch extremely heavy payload. However, this application and the cost means that it found little use in my sandbox and career world which most of the time these roles either fall to the Arianes or the Saturn Vs or SLS, not this rocket. The first stage is also supposed to be a solid rocket motor but you can shut it off xD 6/10
Large rockets[]
Saturn V[]
This is one of the most iconic rocket of all time and certainly an icon of the game where many people have found their way in love and captivated with this one (me too :D). Its performance is impressive, and just like back in the days, it was on par with the white SLS, but now, it's the most superior in the entire game (in 3-stage configuration). The first stage alone could take the entire stack to orbit with careful thrust control, so you know xD It also looks really beautiful and cool, but sadly, it's one of the most expensive rocket ever so I've never used it on my career except for the missions that specifically required me to do so. In sandbox, sure, it was the workhorse of my space program because it could carry literally anything. The only problem with it is the second and third stage which burns out extremely fast (especially the second stage). It seems like this is kind of a niche thing that Andy did to replicate the flight profile of the real version and in the process he just nerfed the second stage entirely to make sure that the third stage would reach orbit with around half of its fuel left. This severely reduced the applications for the second and third stage and thus on the whole, it's the first stage that's carrying it all. Again, this is just me rambling on an already very powerful rocket so . . . 9.5/10 xD
N1[]
Also a very cool rocket and has performance comparable to that of the Saturn V. Unlike its American counterpart, the stages seems to be more balanced and realistic (though the full stack with the LK Lander and Soyuz 7K-LOK seems to be missing the 4th and 5th stages). It's somewhat cheaper though and so it might have a lot of potential, but again, there's no demand for such immense capacity in career mode. I've also used this from time to time along with the Saturn V and SLS so it's not bad at all. 9/10
SLS[]
This thing used to be the absolute most powerful rocket in the entire game with the first stage despite having less fuel (in its original white paint) burns for longer than the orange-painted core stage as well as being so much lighter too, and when combined with the boosters, I think it could reach something like over 90%! Back then, if you were to combine the core stage with the Saturn V Second stage and the Orion spacecraft (like the SLS Block 2 Crew), it would've been an amazing cargo launcher and a beautiful rocket. For now, when Andy nerfed the rocket, it became prettier and the Block 1 assembly is now possible with the long skirt, but unfortunately, it seems like it was a bridge too far when it couldn't launch the Saturn V stack with the Lunar Module and the Apollo CSM even with its powerful boosters. As a result, most of my usage for this rocket is ceremonial and recreation of historical events (or future launches) but not really for a good cargo capacity for something this powerful. 6/10
NooleusX[]
Eagle 8[]
This is an amazingly lovely rocket just like the beauty Falcon 9 <3 However, apart from being reusable, looks cool and have pretty powerful first and second stage, the strange stats suggesting that both of them having the same thrust and fuel (?) which makes for a very underpowered rocket just like the Proton. I feel like this is a very niche rocket that was designed specifically just to carry the Draco spacecrafts because otherwise, it couldn't even carry a Survey Satellite with continuous thrust (which the Soyuz can; doesn't count pulsing the engines) to orbit except for very light ones which doesn't make sense given both the real life performance and the scale of the rocket (it's really tall). And so, it's not at all that useful. 6.5/10