This is another space program set in the Whirligig World mod for Kerbal Space Program, set on the planet Derbin. Note that if you don't want to be spoiled on the looks of the surface of Derbin, this will immediately show you what it looks like.

Children of Destiny, Part 1b: First leaps, Derbin

A red flag with a yellow vertical bar on either side (the left bar having a red star near the top) and three yellow crescents of varying sizes.
The flag of Derbin's space program, depicting Derbin and its two moons as crescents.
Mesbin and its moons, with Mesbin barely visible as a disk in the center. It is surrounded by orbits- dim gray Graymun, blue Kerbmun and brown Troymin, the white of Derbin, and dim green Dermun.
We of the planet Derbin know well our history. Since before our parents' parents embarked on their journey and found their way to this remote and forbidding world, we have been told about the drive to explore. The fire deep within everyone's heart, the desire that pushes us onward- ever farther, ever higher.
A close-up of Derbin and its moons. Derbin is swaddled in white-cream-grey clouds, but Derminmus and Dermun are only visible by their brown and brown-green orbit lines respectively.
We are here as descendants of a dream- the dream of the people of Laythe, to seek a new life on a new world; the dream of those who survived the rain of fire that was our arrival on this world (kindly: contingency target) to survive and thrive despite it all.
A close-up of Mesbin and its inner moons. Mesbin's rugged gray surface is visible in its light and dark shades, a southern continent prominent near its center. You can just about see its oblateness, with practice. A few volcanoes are visible, glowing red. The red orbit line of Statmun is visible close to the surface, as are the grey-brown and grey ones of Thresomin and Graymun.
We are not alone- the world of Mesbin, hidden behind layers of cloud, chatters in the sky. We must set ourselves a mission, then, despite objections:
An oblique view centered on Kerbmun. Brown Troymin is visible as an asteroid in the bottom left, and Derbin and its moons are highlighted on the right. Kerbmun is in the center, partly occluded by its marker- but its clouds and oceans are visible.
We will beat the children of the U.S.C. Magnificent Desolation to Kerbmun, and set foot upon its surface; and we will do it soon.
A rocket leaves the pad on the brown planet Derbin, its four engines spouting yellow flame. The rocket is a two-stage vehicle, with a parachute and payload peeking out of the cone on its top. Below that stage is a relatively thin fuel tank with the flag and PROJECT VERY HIGH written on the side along with small winglets. Another cone at the bottom connects it to a wider, equally-long stage that ends in covered engines and winglets.
The first rocket of Project Very High, Virga A, roars off the pad.
A view looking down the side of the rocket at the space center below, the long runway most evident.
The rocket approaches a brown layer of clouds, the rolling brown hills of the planet below stretching to the horizon.
Virga A reaches the top layer of clouds-
The two suns are visible in a blue sky, the clouds stretching on to the horizon.
- and pierces it.
A look down as the two stages separate. The single engine of the upper stage burns, while the speck of the lower stage is visible with separation rockets firing.
The two stages of the rocket come apart successfully.
The rocket's upper stage, firing its engine high above the clouds. The blue limb of Derbin is visible.
Ever higher...
The cylindrical science package of the rocket, tipped with a parachute and a small inline canister, fires tiny thrusters to orient for reentry.
Maximum altitude: 84 kilometres.
The cylinder falls into the atmosphere, wreathed in red flame.
Four flaming trails streak through the upper atmosphere.
Virga A, it turns out, is a reenactment of the fall of the starship Deepsky Meandering.
A tiny disk-shaped probe core falls through the upper cloud layer...
Unseen, the charred remants of the payload fall.
...and the lower, revealing the shadowy terrain of Derbin's very hot maria- seas of basalt, with rain evaporating before it hits the ground.
The probe core crashes in what looks like a river valley.
With a crunch, Virga A comes to an end just a few minutes after launch.
A near-identical rocket soars into the sky. The view is askance, looking at the mountain range in the near distance.
Virga B is near-identical to Virga A, but the payload is designed to be more resistant to the heat of atmospheric reentry.
The two stages after separation, with the lower stage visible as a winged cylinder with separation rocket plumes coming off of it.
Another cylindrical probe re-enters, its rocket upper stage exploding in the background.
Unfortunately, this is insufficient to prevent the parachute from burning off.
Most of the cylinder, lying broken open on its side beneath the clouds of Derbin's maria.
Dermonths later, a seacrosser team will happen upon some burnt, cracked, and warped metal fragments. They will be scrapped, though their provenance will remain unknown.
A third similar rocket flies upward, the ground nearer the horizon tinged green by the atmosphere in the way.
Virga C rearranges key components of the payload in an attempt to put the highest heating stresses on other components.
The two stages come apart, all six separation thrusters firing.
Four burning streaks fall through the upper atmosphere.
Unfortunately, it doesn't go very well.
A fourth iteration on the same rocket, this time with the camera aimed to showcase the buildings of the space center. The triangle of arrays that make up the tracking station, the rectangular vehicle assembly building, the huge windows of mission control, and the wide spaceplane hangar with its air control tower are all visible.
Virga D uses a better-contained probe section in an attempt to brave the fires of reentry.
Another stage separation shot, this one taken from above. The stubby cylinder of the first stage can be seen, its separation rockets firing.
All is nominal through ascent...
The cylinder of the return vehicle screams through the atmosphere, trailing a meteor tail, while the rocket's upper stage burns up and explodes behind it.
The cylinder descends safely to Derbin's maria under three wide parachutes.
...and, finally, through descent.
The return vehicle on the surface, its antenna extended.
Virga D- henceforth Upshot One- has become the first spacecraft to survive its return to the surface of Derbin.
An elongated version of the Virga rocket approaches the upper cloud layer, the continent it launched from surrounded by a sea of clouds.
Virga E, then, is an attempt to make orbit.
The first of two solid rocket boosters ignites. Little Derminmus, a rounded but not round chocolate-colored moon, looks on.
Hidden in the fairing with the much shorter probe is a pair of solid rocket boosters, which will push it into Derbin orbit.
The second booster ignites, carrying a cylindrical and spindly probe towards orbit.
Derminmus watches on impassively, as...
The Virga E probe, a cylinder with tiny thrusters and a cylindrical framework on either side. The bottom framework holds two batteries, the top framework three batteries and science equipment. Above the top framework is a trio of fuel tanks and an antenna.
it doesn't make it.
Stage separation from the bottom, watching as the upper stage's engine ignites and the lower stage's thrusters push it out of view.
Virga F is a repeat- surely it was a piloting error...
Another probe tries to make orbit on its built-in thrusters.
It wasn't.
A third elongated rocket, this one with a slightly shorter nosecone, leaves the pad behind.
Virga G uses a completely new final stage, which will hopefully allow it to reach orbit where its conspecifics could not.
Its second stage, flag prominent, burns its engine high above the clouds. A gibbous Derminmus is visible high above.
The well-tested upper stage performs about as expected.
The third stage, a small wide stage with four spherical monopropellant tanks attached to the side and an engine with hard-to-see exhaust, fires.
The third stage is almost too wide to fit in the fairing, allowing it to be a short framework and keep the rocket's height down.
The little probe separates from the third stage, Derbin's limb visible below.
The little Virga G satellite separates from its final stage...
A zoomed-in view of the probe over Derbin's limb, with the orange star Gememma visible above. To the right of the probe are Kerbmun, its clouds visible; tiny faraway Graymun, and lentil-shaped Mesbin. Mesbin's surface features can clearly be made out, with light gray continents and dark gray lava seas like on the Moon.

Derbinites launch "third moon"!

Officials from the Moonlet and Astronomical Research/Tracking Array confirmed early this fortnight that the "Satellite One" orbiting probe proclaimed by Derbinite radio broadcasts last fortnight was acquired by their telescopes, and was active for an estimated two hours. Danerly Barman, head of the MARTA program, said, "The signal was weak, so it was likely a very small satellite. Going inactive so soon suggests it either had very little power storage onboard or that it was barely in orbit at all. We've always known the Derbinites have superior rocketry technology- but we're better at working in space." When asked about a potential reprisal to Satellite One, Danerly said, "I have no comment on any potential actions our government will take in response to this, but I do know that we've reached out to Derbinite authorities."

The Mesbin side of things...

Continued: Ups and Downs

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