Buran: The first Russian shuttle to reach space
By James Grahame
Space Shuttle Buran launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on November 15, 1988. It promised a new age in Soviet space flight. Outwardly, Buran resembled the American space shuttle but there were several important differences. The most apparent was the monstrous Energia heavy-lift rocket system, capable launching the shuttle with up to 100 tonnes of cargo -- three times the capacity of the American model.
The Energia rocket was capable of full oribital insertion, allowing Russian designers to do away with the bulky engines required by the American design -- the Soviet shuttle's thrusters were required only for manuevering. In addition, the Buran-Energia system was designed to be fully reusable. The shuttle, rocket and liquid-propellant Zenit boosters could be reconditioned and reused.
The Buran flew only one automated (and unmanned) space flight - orbiting Earth twice in 206 minutes - before returning successfully to the ground. Sadly, the political and economic situation in Russia resulted in the cancellation of the project in 1993. Shuttle Buran was destroyed when Baikonur Cosmodrome Building 112 collapsed in 2002, but Buran's sister ship Ptichka ("Little Bird") was more than 95% complete when the program was canceled and currently resides in the MIK hanger at the Baikonur complex.
A comparison of two shuttles: USA vs. USSR