Editing Buran programme (section)

== History of the Buran programme ==
[[File:The World's First Five Spaceplanes.png|thumb|right|The [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]] orbiter ranks among the world's first [[spaceplanes]], with the [[North American X-15]], the [[Space Shuttle]], [[SpaceShipOne]], and the [[Boeing X-37]]. Of these, only the Buran and X-37 spaceflights were [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|uncrewed]].]]

=== Programme development ===
The development of the Buran began in the early 1970s as a response to the U.S. Space Shuttle program. Soviet officials were concerned about a perceived military threat posed by the U.S. Space Shuttle. In their opinion, the Shuttle's 30-ton payload-to-orbit capacity and, more significantly, its 15-ton payload return capacity, were a clear indication that one of its main objectives would be to place massive experimental laser weapons into orbit that could destroy enemy missiles from a distance of several thousands of kilometres. Their reasoning was that such weapons could only be effectively tested in actual space conditions and that to cut their development time and save costs it would be necessary to regularly bring them back to Earth for modifications and fine-tuning.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}} Soviet officials were also concerned that the U.S. Space Shuttle could make a sudden dive into the atmosphere to drop nuclear bombs on Moscow.<ref name="gubanov98triumph">{{cite book |url=https://www.buran.ru/htm/03-3.htm |script-title=ru:Триумф и трагедия „Энергии“ |title=Triumf i tragediya Energii|trans-title=Triumph and Tragedy, Energiya|volume=3 |page=33 |publisher=Publisher of the Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Economic Development |first=Boris |last=Gubanov |date=1998 |isbn=5-93320-002-6 |access-date=11 March 2021 |archive-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101183616/https://www.buran.ru/htm/03-3.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBC Buran">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7738489.stm |title=Buran – the Soviet 'space shuttle' |work=BBC News |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=20 November 2008 |access-date=7 December 2008 |archive-date=30 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330225717/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7738489.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1974, [[Valentin Glushko]]'s design bureau, [[OKB-1]] (later NPO Energiya), proposed a new family of heavy-lift rockets called RLA ({{langx|ru|РЛА, «Ракетные Летательные Аппараты»|Raketnyye Letatel'niye Apparaty|lit=Rocket Flying Apparatus}}). The RLA concept included the use of kerosene and liquid hydrogen as fuel, and liquid oxygen as oxidizer (both new technologies in the Soviet space programme), with the shuttle orbiter being one possible payload.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|p=62}} While [[NPO Molniya]] conducted development under the lead of [[Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy]], the Soviet Union's Military-Industrial Commission, or VPK, was tasked with collecting all data it could on the U.S. Space Shuttle. Under the auspices of the KGB, the VPK was able to amass documentation on the American shuttle's airframe designs, design analysis software, materials, flight computer systems and propulsion systems. The KGB targeted many university research project documents and databases, including Caltech, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and others. The thoroughness of the acquisition of data was made much easier as the U.S. shuttle development was unclassified.<ref name="NBC News"/>

By 1975, NPO Energiya had come up with two competing designs for the orbiter vehicle: the MTKVP ({{langx|ru|МТКВП, «Многоразовый Транспортный Корабль Вертикальной Посадки»|Mnogorazoviy Transportniy Korabl' Vertikal'noy Posadki|lit=Reusable Vertical Landing Transport Ship}}), a 34-meter-long [[lifting body]] spaceplane launched on top of a stack of kerosene-fueled strap on boosters;{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|p=71}} and the OS-120 ({{langx|ru|ОС-120, «Орбитальный Самолет»|Orbital'niy Samolet|lit=Orbital Spaceplane–120 tons}}), a close copy of the US Space Shuttle based on US Space Shuttle documentation and designs obtained through the VPK and KGB.<ref name="NBC News"/> The OS-120 was a delta-winged spaceplane based heavily on the US Space Shuttle design, equipped with three liquid hydrogen engines, strapped to a detachable external tank and four liquid fuel boosters (NPO Energiya even considered the use of [[solid propellant rocket]] boosters, further imitating the US Shuttle's configuration).{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|p=73}}

A compromise between these two proposals was achieved by NPO Energiya in January 1976 with the OK-92 ({{langx|ru|ОК-92, «Орбитальный Корабль»|Orbital'niy Korabl'|lit=Orbital Ship–92 tons}}), a delta-winged orbiter equipped with two [[Soloviev D-30]] turbofan jet engines for autonomous atmospheric flight, launched to space from a rocket stack made of a core stage with three cryogenic engines, and four kerosene-fueled boosters, each with four engines.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|p=76}} By 1978, the OK-92 design was further refined, with its final configuration completed in June 1979.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|p=82}}
[[File:"Buran" approaching a manned space complex.JPEG|thumb|Early artist's concept of a Soviet space shuttle approaching a manned space complex.]]
Soviet [[engineer]]s were initially reluctant to implement a spacecraft design with so many similarities to the US Space Shuttle. Although it has been commented that [[wind tunnel]] testing showed that NASA's design was already ideal,<ref>{{cite book |title=Spaceflight: The Complete Story From Sputnik to Shuttle—and Beyond |publisher=DK Publishers |first=Giles |last=Sparrow |year=2009 |page=215 |isbn=9780756656416}}</ref> the shape requirements were mandated by its potential military capabilities to transport large payloads to low Earth orbit, themselves a counterpart to the [[United States Department of Defense|Pentagon]]'s initially projected missions for the Shuttle.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|p=83}} Even though the Molniya Scientific Production Association proposed its [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-105|Spiral]] programme design<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buran.ru/htm/bors.htm#bor-4|title=Аппараты БОР|website=www.buran.ru|access-date=29 November 2020|archive-date=13 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713131801/http://www.buran.ru/htm/bors.htm#bor-4|url-status=live}}</ref> (halted 13 years earlier), it was rejected as being altogether dissimilar from the American shuttle design.

The construction of the shuttles began in 1980, and by 1984 the first full-scale Buran was rolled out. The first [[sub-orbital flight|suborbital]] test flight of a scale-model ([[BOR-5]]) took place as early as July 1983. As the project progressed, five additional scale-model flights were performed. A test vehicle was constructed with four jet engines mounted at the rear; this vehicle is usually referred to as [[OK-GLI]], or as the "Buran aerodynamic analogue". The jets were used to take off from a normal landing strip, and once it reached a designated point, the engines were cut and OK-GLI glided back to land. This provided invaluable information about the handling characteristics of the Buran design, and significantly differed from the carrier plane/air drop method used by the United States and the{{OV|101|full=no}} test craft. Twenty-four test flights of OK-GLI were performed by the [[Gromov Flight Research Institute]] [[test pilot]]s and researchers after which the shuttle was "worn out". The developers considered using a couple of [[Mil Mi-26]] [[helicopter]]s to "bundle" lift the Buran, but test flights with a [[mock-up]] showed how risky and impractical that was.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buran-energia.com/documentation/documentation-akc-air-transportation.php |title=BURAN Orbital Spaceship Airframe Creation |work=Buran-Energia.com |first=V. A. |last=Fedotov |access-date=22 January 2013 |archive-date=26 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126215801/http://www.buran-energia.com/documentation/documentation-akc-air-transportation.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Myasishchev VM-T|VM-T]] ferried components<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buran-energia.com/vmt-atlant/vmt-desc.php |title=VM-T Atlant: Description |work=Buran-Energia.com |first=Vassili |last=Petrovitch |access-date=22 January 2013 |archive-date=25 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125204254/http://www.buran-energia.com/vmt-atlant/vmt-desc.php |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Antonov An-225 Mriya]] (the heaviest airplane ever) was designed and used to ferry the shuttle.<ref name=goebAn>{{cite web |url=http://www.airvectors.net/avantgt.html#m3 |title=The Antonov Giants: An-22, An-124, & An-225 – Antonov An-225 Mriya ("Cossack") |work=Airvectors.net |first=Greg |last=Goebel |access-date=21 August 2012 |archive-date=5 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121205123323/http://www.airvectors.net/avantgt.html#m3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=goebMriya>{{cite web |url=http://vectorsite.net/tashutl_c08.html#m1 |title=Postscript: The Other Shuttles – The Soviet Buran shuttle programme |work=Vectorsite.net |first=Greg |last=Goebel |access-date=21 August 2012 |archive-date=11 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211001433/http://www.vectorsite.net/tashutl_c08.html#m1 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

The flight and ground-testing software also required research. In 1983 the Buran developers estimated that the software development would require several thousand programmers if done with their existing methodology (in assembly language), and they appealed to [[Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics]] for assistance. It was decided to develop a new high-level "problem-oriented" programming language. Researchers at Keldysh developed two languages: PROL2 (used for real-time programming of onboard systems) and DIPOL (used for the ground-based test systems), as well as the development and debugging environment SAPO PROLOGUE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.keldysh.ru/pages/anniver/achievment/22_prog.htm |title=Системное и прикладное программирование |trans-title=System and application programming |series=50th Anniversary of Institute for Applied Mathematics |publisher=Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics |date=2004 |access-date=24 March 2015 |archive-date=14 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914024335/http://www.keldysh.ru/pages/anniver/achievment/22_prog.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> There was also an operating system known as Prolog Manager.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.keldysh.ru/departments/dpt_23/dpt_23.html |title=Отдел программных комплексов |trans-title=Department of software systems |publisher=Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics |access-date=26 March 2015 |archive-date=5 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905184330/http://www.keldysh.ru/departments/dpt_23/dpt_23.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Work on these languages continued beyond the end of the Buran programme, with PROL2 being extended into SIPROL,<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://doc.sumy.ua/prog/prg96/85.htm |title=Интегрированный подход к разработке крупных программных систем управления реального времени |trans-title=An integrated approach to the development of large software systems, real-time control |conference=Индустрия программирования [Software industry] |location=Moscow |first1=V. |last1=Kryukov |first2=A. |last2=Petrenko |name-list-style=amp |date=1996 |access-date=25 March 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402102611/http://doc.sumy.ua/prog/prg96/85.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and eventually all three languages developed into [[DRAKON]]{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} which is still in use in the Russian space industry. A declassified May 1990 CIA report citing [[open-source intelligence]] material states that the software for the Buran spacecraft was written in "the French-developed programming language known as [[Prolog]]",<ref name="SovSoftProd">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000498691.pdf |title=Soviet Software Productivity: Isolated Gains in an Uphill Battle |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |page=7 |date=May 1990 |id=SW 90-10029X |access-date=9 July 2016 |archive-date=4 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804152747/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000498691.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> possibly due to confusion with the name PROLOGUE.

=== Flight crew preparation ===
{{main|List of human spaceflight programs}}
[[File:Igor Volk 2.jpg|thumb|Igor Petrovich Volk, cosmonaut and test pilot of the OK-GLI.]]
Until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, seven [[cosmonaut]]s were allocated to the Buran programme and trained on the [[OK-GLI|OK-GLI ("Buran aerodynamic analogue")]] test vehicle. All had experience as test pilots. They were: [[Ivan Ivanovich Bachurin]], [[Alexei Sergeyevich Borodai]], [[Anatoli Levchenko|Anatoli Semyonovich Levchenko]], [[Aleksandr Vladimirovich Shchukin]], [[Rimantas Stankevičius|Rimantas Antanas Stankevičius]], [[Igor Volk|Igor Petrovich Volk]], and [[Viktor Vasiliyevich Zabolotsky]].

A rule, set in place for cosmonauts after the failed [[Soyuz 25]] mission of 1977, stipulated that all Soviet space missions must contain at least one crew member who has been to space before. In 1982, it was decided that all Buran commanders and their back-ups would occupy the third seat on a Soyuz mission, prior to their Buran spaceflight. Several people had been selected to potentially be in the first Buran crew. By 1985, it was decided that at least one of the two crew members would be a [[test pilot]] trained at the [[Gromov Flight Research Institute]] (known as "LII"), and potential crew lists were drawn up. Only two potential Buran crew members reached space: [[Igor Volk]], who flew in [[Soyuz T-12]] to the space station [[Salyut 7]], and [[Anatoli Levchenko]] who visited [[Mir]], launching with [[Soyuz TM-4]] and landing with [[Soyuz TM-3]]. Both of these spaceflights lasted about a week.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}}

Levchenko died of a brain tumour the year after his orbital flight, Bachurin left the cosmonaut corps because of medical reasons, Shchukin was assigned to the back-up crew of Soyuz TM-4 and later died in a plane crash, Stankevičius was also killed in a plane crash, while Borodai and Zabolotsky remained unassigned to a Soyuz flight until the Buran programme ended.

==== Spaceflight of I. P. Volk ====
{{main|Soyuz T-12}}

[[File:1985 CPA 5654.jpg|thumb|The crew of [[Soyuz T-12]] ([[Vladimir Dzhanibekov]], [[Svetlana Savitskaya]], and [[Igor Volk]]) on a stamp issued in 1985]]
[[Igor Volk]] was planned to be the commander of the first crewed Buran flight. There were two purposes of the Soyuz T-12 mission, one of which was to give Volk spaceflight experience. The other purpose, seen as the more important factor, was to beat the United States and have the first [[Extra-vehicular activity|spacewalk]] by a woman.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}} At the time of the Soyuz T-12 mission the Buran programme was still a [[Classified information|state secret]]. The appearance of Volk as a crew member caused some, including the [[British Interplanetary Society]] magazine ''[[Spaceflight (magazine)|Spaceflight]]'', to ask why a test pilot was occupying a Soyuz seat usually reserved for researchers or foreign cosmonauts.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|p=526}}

==== Spaceflight of A. S. Levchenko ====

[[Anatoli Levchenko]] was planned to be the back-up commander of the first crewed Buran flight, and in March 1987 he began extensive training for his Soyuz spaceflight.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}} In December 1987, he occupied the third seat aboard [[Soyuz TM-4]] to Mir, and returned to Earth about a week later on [[Soyuz TM-3]]. His mission is sometimes called ''Mir LII-1'', after the [[Gromov Flight Research Institute]] shorthand.<ref name="EA-LII">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/mirlii1.htm |title=Mir LII-1 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |first=Mark |last=Wade |access-date=15 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130020104/http://astronautix.com/flights/mirlii1.htm |archive-date=30 November 2010}}</ref> When Levchenko died the following year, it left the back-up crew of the first Buran mission again without spaceflight experience. A Soyuz spaceflight for another potential back-up commander was sought by the Gromov Flight Research Institute, but never occurred.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}}

=== Ground facilities ===
[[File:"Buran" launch at Baikonur.JPEG|thumb|Early illustration of a Buran launch at Baikonur]]
Maintenance, launches and landings of the Buran-class orbiters were to take place at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] in the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]]. Several facilities at Baikonur were adapted or newly built for these purposes:

* [[File:"Buran" at launch pad.JPEG|thumb|Illustration of ''Buran'' and Energia at Site 110]][[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110|Site 110]] – Used for the launch of the Buran-class orbiters. Like the assembly and processing hall at Site 112, the launch complex was originally constructed for the [[Soviet crewed lunar programs|Soviet lunar landing program]] and later converted for the Energia-Buran program.
* Site 112 – Used for orbiter maintenance and to mate the orbiters to their [[Energia (rocket)|Energia]] launchers (thus fulfilling a role similar to the [[Vehicle Assembly Building|VAB]] at [[Kennedy Space Center|KSC]]). The main hangar at the site, called ''MIK RN'' or ''MIK 112'', was originally built for the assembly of the [[N1 (rocket)|N1 Moon rocket]]. After cancellation of the N-1 programme in 1974, the facilities at Site 112 were converted for the Energia-Buran programme. It was here that [[Buran (spacecraft)|orbiter 1K]] was stored after the end of the Buran programme and was destroyed when the hangar roof collapsed in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_112.html |title=Centers: Baikonur: Energia-Buran facilities: Site 112 |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=7 April 2013 |access-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706112853/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_112.html |archive-date=6 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buran-energia.com/bourane-buran/bourane-fin.php |title=End of an adventure |website=Buran-Energia.com |first=Vassili |last=Petrovitch |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=5 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905191348/http://www.buran-energia.com/bourane-buran/bourane-fin.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Site 251 – Used as Buran orbiter landing facility, also known as ''Yubileyniy Airfield'' (and fulfilling a role similar to the [[Shuttle Landing Facility|SLF]] at [[Kennedy Space Center|KSC]]). It features one runway, called 06/24, which is {{convert|4500|m|yd}} long and {{convert|84|m|yd}} wide, paved with "Grade 600" high quality reinforced concrete. At the edge of the runway was a special [[Mate-Demate Device|mating-demating device]], designed to lift an orbiter off its [[Antonov An-225 Mriya]] carrier aircraft and load it on a transporter, which would carry the orbiter to the processing building at Site 254. A purpose-built orbiter landing control facility, housed in a large multi-storey office building, was located near the runway. ''Yubileyniy Airfield'' was also used to receive heavy transport planes carrying elements of the Energia-Buran system. After the end of the Buran programme, Site 251 was abandoned but later reopened as a commercial cargo airport. Besides serving Baikonur, Kazakh authorities also use it for passenger and charter flights from Russia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_251.html |title=Centers: Baikonur: Energia-Buran facilities: Site 251 |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=7 April 2013 |access-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225010245/http://russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_251.html |archive-date=25 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ourairports.com/airports/UAON/ |title=UAON |website=OurAirports |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817040312/http://ourairports.com/airports/UAON/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Site 254 – Built to service the Buran-class orbiters between flights (thus fulfilling a role similar to the [[Orbiter Processing Facility|OPF]] at [[Kennedy Space Center|KSC]]). Constructed in the 1980s as a special four-bay building, it also featured a large processing area flanked by several floors of test rooms. After cancellation of the Buran programme it was adapted for pre-launch operations of the [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] and [[Progress (spacecraft)|Progress]] spacecraft.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_254.html |title=Centers: Baikonur: Energia-Buran facilities: Site 254 |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=28 October 2009 |access-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809030907/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_254.html |archive-date=9 August 2015}}</ref>

=== Missions ===
==== Atmospheric test flights ====
{{Main|OK-GLI#Test flights}}

[[File:VKK Buran AN0077204.jpg|thumb|OK-GLI Buran aerodynamic analogue]]
An aerodynamic testbed, [[OK-GLI]], was constructed in 1984 to test the in-flight properties of the Buran design. Unlike the American prototype {{OV|101}}, OK-GLI had four [[Saturn AL-31|AL-31]] [[turbofan]] engines fitted, meaning it was able to fly under its own power.

==== Orbital flight of ''Buran'' in 1988 ====
{{Main|List of Buran missions}}
<!-- references in this section are prefixed with "buran-" for clarity -->

Following a series of atmospheric test flights using the jet-powered [[OK-GLI]] prototype, the first operational spacecraft ([[Buran (spacecraft)|''Buran'', orbiter 1K]]) flew one uncrewed test mission.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|page=349}}

At 03:00&nbsp;[[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] on 15 November 1988, ''Buran'' and the Energia carrier rocket lifted off from [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110|pad 110/37]] in Baikonur.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|page=349}} The life support system was not installed for the flight and no data was displayed on the [[CRT display]]s in the Command Compartment.<ref name="nasa">{{cite web |date=12 November 1997 |title=Shuttle Buran |url=http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060804153528/http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/buran.html |archive-date=4 August 2006 |work=NASA.gov}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
! scope="col" width="40"|No
! width="125"|Launch Date
! Mission
! Shuttle
! Crew
! Duration
! Landing Site
! Notes
! Sources
|-
! scope="row" | 1
|{{sort|19820322|15 November 1988}}<br />03:00:02&nbsp;UTC<br />06:00:02&nbsp;MSK
|'''1K1'''
|[[Buran (spacecraft)|''Buran'']]
|0
|{{time interval|15 November 1988 03:00:02|15 November 1988 06:25:24|abbr=on|show=dhms|sep=space}}
|[[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]]
|
*Only flight of ''Buran''
*Only uncrewed flight of Space Shuttle type vehicle
|<ref name="buran-nytimes">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/16/us/soviet-space-shuttle-orbits-and-returns-in-unmanned-debut.html |title=Soviet Space Shuttle Orbits and Returns In Unmanned Debut |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Felicity |last=Barringer |date=16 November 1988 |access-date=23 November 2013 |archive-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219190051/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/16/us/soviet-space-shuttle-orbits-and-returns-in-unmanned-debut.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="buran-CSM">{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1988/1117/elaunch.html |title=Soviet shuttle |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |author=R. S. |date=17 November 1988 |access-date=15 January 2013 |archive-date=3 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003115559/http://www.csmonitor.com/1988/1117/elaunch.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="buran_spaceDaily">{{cite news |url=http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_starts_ambitious_super_heavy_space_rocket_project_999.html |title=Russia starts ambitious super-heavy space rocket project |publisher=Space Daily |date=19 November 2013 |access-date=2 October 2014 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006161815/http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_starts_ambitious_super_heavy_space_rocket_project_999.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buran.ru/htm/cikmain.htm |title=Циклограмма полета орбитального корабля "Буран" 15 ноября 1988 г. |website=Buran.ru |language=ru |access-date=15 August 2020 |archive-date=30 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430124724/http://www.buran.ru/htm/cikmain.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}

The shuttle orbited the [[Earth]] twice, travelling {{convert|83707|km|mi}} in 3 hours and 25 minutes (0.14 flight days).{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|page=356}} On its return, it performed an automated landing on the shuttle runway (Site 251) at [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]].<ref name="rockets_and_people">{{cite book |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol1.pdf |title=Rockets and People, Volume 1 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |series=NASA History Series |first=Boris E. |last=Chertok |author-link=Boris Chertok |editor-first=Asif A. |editor-last=Siddiqi |page=179 |date=January 2005 |id=SP-2005-4110 |asin=B0075GLYQG |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=29 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329153404/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Planned flights ====
[[File:"Buran" docked to "Mir" space station.jpg|thumb|Planned ''Ptichka'' mission to Mir space station]]
The planned flights for the shuttles in 1989, before the downsizing of the project and eventual cancellation, were:<ref name="projected">{{cite web |url=http://www.buran.ru/htm/pilots.htm |script-title=ru:Экипажи "Бурана": Несбывшиеся планы |trans-title=The Crews of "Buran": Unfulfilled Plans |work=Buran.ru |first=Vadim |last=Lukashevich |access-date=5 August 2006 |language=ru |archive-date=17 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717053358/http://www.buran.ru/htm/pilots.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 1991 — [[Ptichka|Orbiter 2K]] uncrewed first flight, duration 1–2 days.
* 1992 — Orbiter 2K uncrewed second flight, duration 7–8 days. Orbital manoeuvres and space station approach test.
* 1993 — ''Buran'' (1K) uncrewed second flight, duration 15–20 days.
* 1994 — [[2.01 (Buran-class spacecraft)|Orbiter 3K]] first crewed space test flight, duration of 24 hours. Craft equipped with life-support system and with two ejection seats. Crew would consist of two cosmonauts with [[Igor Volk]] as commander, and a flight engineer.
* 1994-1995 - Second, third, fourth and fifth crewed orbital test flights.

The planned uncrewed second flight of orbiter 2K was changed in 1991 to the following:
* December 1991 — Orbiter 2K uncrewed second flight, with a duration of 7–8 days. Orbital maneuvers and space station approach test: 
** automatic docking with [[Mir]]'s [[Kristall]] module
** crew transfer from Mir to the orbiter, with testing of some of its systems in the course of twenty-four hours, including the remote manipulator
** undocking and autonomous flight in orbit
** docking of the crewed [[Soyuz TM-101]] with orbiter 2K
** crew transfer from the Soyuz to the orbiter and onboard work in the course of twenty-four hours
** automatic undocking and landing

=== Cancellation of the programme 1993 ===
[[File:Buran family.png|thumb|Buran family, showing test articles and orbiters in different completion stages.]]
After the first flight of a Buran shuttle, the project was suspended due to lack of funds and the political situation in the Soviet Union. The two subsequent orbiters, which were due in 1990 (Orbiter 2K) and 1992 (Orbiter 3K) were never completed with other articles being scrapped (see next section).

The project was officially terminated on 30 June 1993, by President [[Boris Yeltsin]]. At the time of its cancellation, 20 billion [[Soviet rouble|roubles]] had been spent on the Buran programme.<ref name="cancellation">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Yeltsin cancels Buran project |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |url=http://www.astronautix.com/details/yelt5401.htm |access-date=2 July 2006 |last=Wade |first=Mark |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630161703/http://astronautix.com/details/yelt5401.htm |archive-date=30 June 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Commenting on the discontinuation of the programme in his interview to ''[[New Scientist]]'', Russian [[cosmonaut]] [[Oleg Kotov]] described the project's end:{{Blockquote|"We had no civilian tasks for ''Buran'' and the military ones were no longer needed."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20664-cosmonaut-soviet-space-shuttle-was-safer-than-nasas.html |title=Cosmonaut: Soviet space shuttle was safer than NASA's |date=7 July 2011 |author=Paul Marks |access-date=25 August 2017 |archive-date=20 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820094451/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20664-cosmonaut-soviet-space-shuttle-was-safer-than-nasas.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

The programme was designed to boost national pride, carry out research, and meet technological objectives similar to those of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, including resupply of the [[Mir]] space station, which was launched in 1986 and remained in service until 2001. When Mir was [[STS-71|finally visited]] by a spaceplane, the visitor was a [[Space Shuttle orbiter]], not a Buran-class orbiter.

The Buran SO, a docking module that was to be used for rendezvous with the Mir space station, was refitted for use with the U.S. Space Shuttles during the [[Shuttle–Mir]] missions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/mirodule.htm |title=Mir-Shuttle Docking Module |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |first=Mark |last=Wade |access-date=16 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108043835/http://astronautix.com/craft/mirodule.htm |archive-date=8 January 2010}}</ref>

The cost of a Buran launch carrying a 20-ton payload was estimated at 270 million roubles, vs 5.5 million roubles on the Proton rocket.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/buran.html|title=Buran reusable shuttle|website=www.russianspaceweb.com|access-date=1 June 2015|archive-date=15 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215094534/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/buran.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Baikonur hangar collapse ====
On 12 May 2002, a [[hangar]] roof at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] in [[Kazakhstan]] collapsed because of a [[structural failure]] due to poor maintenance. The collapse killed eight workers and destroyed one of the Buran-class orbiters ([[Buran (spacecraft)|''Buran'', orbiter 1K]]), which flew the test flight in 1988, as well as a [[mock-up]] of an Energia booster rocket. It was not clear to outsiders at the time which orbiter was destroyed and the BBC reported that it was just "a model" of the orbiter.<ref name="buran-bbcColapse">{{cite news |last=Whitehouse |first=David |date=13 May 2002 |title=Russia's space dreams abandoned |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1985631.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121211200/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1985631.stm |archive-date=21 November 2008}}</ref> It occurred at the ''MIK RN/MIK 112'' building at Site 112 of the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]], 14 years after the [[Buran (spacecraft)#First flight|only Buran flight]]. Work on the roof had begun for a maintenance project, whose equipment is thought to have contributed to the collapse, together with heavy rainfall in the days preceding the collapse.{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007}}{{sfn|Hendrickx|Vis|2007|page=388}}