Editing Buran programme (section)

{{short description|Soviet research project on spaceplanes}}
{{italic title|string=Buran}}
{{EngvarB|date = December 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox space programme
| name            = ''Buran'' programme
| image           = Antonov An-225 with Soviet space shuttle Buran on top.jpeg
| image_size      = 
| alt             = 
| caption         = The [[Antonov An-225 Mriya]] carrying a ''Buran'' orbiter in 1989.
| country         = [[Soviet Union]]{{\}}[[Russia]]
| organisation    = [[Roscosmos]] (1991–1993)
| programme       = N
| purpose         = crewed orbital flight and reentry
| cost            = 
| status          = Cancelled
| duration        = 1971–1993
| firstflight     = [[OK-GLI]] Flight 1 (10 November 1985)
| firstcrewed     = 
| lastflight      = [[Buran (spacecraft)#Orbital flight|OK-1K1]] (15 November 1988)
| successes       = 1
| failures        = 0
| partialfailures = 
| launchsite      = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110|Baikonur pad 110/37]]
| crewvehicle     = ''Buran''-class orbiter
| capacity        = 10 cosmonauts
| launcher        = [[Energia (rocket)|Energia]]
| native_name_a   = Космическая программа «Энергия» — «Буран»
| native_name_r   = Kosmicheskaya Programma Energia — Buran
}}
{{geoGroup}}
The '''''Buran'' programme''' ({{langx|ru|Буран}}, {{IPA|ru|bʊˈran|IPA}}, "Snowstorm", "Blizzard"), also known as the "'''VKK Space Orbiter programme'''" ({{langx|ru|ВКК «Воздушно-Космический Корабль»|lit=Air and Space Ship}}),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sciencefirsthand.ru/gunko.pdf |script-title=ru:Воздушно-космический Корабль |language=ru |trans-title=Air-Space Ship |access-date=2 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060320022443/http://www.sciencefirsthand.ru/gunko.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2006}}</ref> was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] and later Russian reusable [[spacecraft]] project that began in 1974 at the [[Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute]] in [[Moscow]] and was formally suspended in 1993.<ref name="harvey" /> In addition to being the designation for the whole Soviet/Russian reusable spacecraft project, ''Buran'' was also the name given to [[Buran (spacecraft)|orbiter 1K]], which completed one uncrewed spaceflight in 1988 and was the only Soviet reusable spacecraft to be launched into space. The Buran-class orbiters used the expendable [[Energia (rocket)|Energia]] rocket as a [[launch vehicle]].

The Buran programme was started by the [[Soviet Union]] as a response to the United States [[Space Shuttle program]]<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmbZ4-kgaak  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/TmbZ4-kgaak| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Russian shuttle dream dashed by Soviet crash |work=YouTube.com |publisher=[[RT (TV network)|Russia Today]] |date=15 November 2007 |access-date=16 July 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and benefited from extensive espionage undertaken by the [[KGB]] of the unclassified US Space Shuttle program,<ref name="NBC News">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18686090 |title=How the Soviets stole a space shuttle |work=NBC News |last=Windrem |first=Robert |date=4 November 1997 |access-date=10 September 2013 |archive-date=30 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330225718/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18686090/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/how-soviets-stole-space-shuttle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> resulting in many superficial and functional similarities between American and Soviet Shuttle designs.<ref name="Discover Magazine">{{cite news |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/real-life-rogue-one-how-the-soviets-stole-nasas-shuttle-plans |title=Real-Life Rogue One: How the Soviets Stole NASA's Shuttle Plans |work=Discover Magazine |last=Betz |first=Eric |date=4 December 2016}}</ref> Although the Buran class was similar in appearance to [[NASA]]'s [[Space Shuttle orbiter]], and could similarly operate as a [[re-entry]] [[spaceplane]], its final internal and functional design was different. For example, the main engines during launch were on the Energia rocket and were not taken into orbit by the spacecraft. Smaller rocket engines on the craft's body provided propulsion in orbit and de-orbital burns, similar to the Space Shuttle's [[Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System|OMS pods]]. Unlike the Space Shuttle whose [[STS-1|first orbital spaceflight]] was accomplished in April 1981, Buran, whose [[List of Buran missions|first and only spaceflight]] occurred in November 1988, had a capability of flying uncrewed missions, as well as performing fully automated landings.<ref>The Space Shuttle could not perform uncrewed missions but was capable of fully automatic landing up to the point of ground rollout, during which the Pilot would have to steer the orbiter down the runway centerline.  A test demonstration of this autoland capability was planned, but, as recounted by former NASA Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale, who was a flight controller at JSC on that shuttle mission, the test was cancelled while the orbiter was already on orbit, by the action of an admiral who insisted that the test posed an unnecessary and unreasonable risk to the crew.  (Source: Wayne Hale's NASA blog)</ref> The project was the largest and the most expensive in the history of Soviet [[space exploration]].<ref name="harvey">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmTz6Phf5WYC&pg=PA8 |title=The Rebirth of the Russian Space Programme: 50 Years After Sputnik, New Frontiers |publisher=Springer |first=Brian |last=Harvey |year=2007 |page=8 |isbn=978-0-38-771356-4 |access-date=9 February 2016 |archive-date=24 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624065603/https://books.google.com/books?id=kmTz6Phf5WYC&pg=PA8 |url-status=live }}</ref>