Space Shuttle Atlantis FSX-SP2

Bruce Fitzgerald's Atlantis shuttle was reworked for FSX SP2 and Acceleration, with revised modelling, textures and flight dynamics compiled using the FSXA SDK. The model's description reports suborbital flights up to Mach 4.65 and close to 700,000 feet at maximum realism settings; these figures describe its simulator behaviour.

The dynamic virtual cockpit includes a camera looking through the payload-bay window. Animations cover the SRBs, external tank, payload-bay doors, robotic arm, rudder/speed brake, moving surfaces and nose-wheel steering. Launch-pad scenery is not included.

• Shift + E: payload-bay doors.
• Shift + E, then 2: SRB separation.
• Shift + E, then 3: external-tank separation.
• Shift + E, then 4: robotic arm and module.

For aircraft-style flying, activate exits 2 and 3 to remove the boosters and external tank.

Vertical launch in the simulator:

1. Enter Slew mode with Y, rotate the shuttle vertically and position it at your chosen launch location.
2. Set roughly 20–25% thrust, then leave Slew mode.
3. Gradually increase thrust to 100%.
4. Separate the SRBs and external tank once the shuttle is sufficiently high and stable.

Read the included English documentation for details. The video by filipe026 below demonstrates the launch procedure.

Atlantis, orbiter OV-104, flew its first mission in October 1985 and the shuttle programme's final mission in July 2011.