The Buran space shuttle was a spaceplane developed by the Soviet Union as part of the Buran program. The Buran shuttle was created in response to NASA’s space shuttle program and made its first—and only flight in 1988.

When the U.S. space shuttle program launched the Shuttle Columbia for the first time in 1981, the USSR took notice. The Cold War wasn’t over yet, and the Soviets believed that a United States reusable spacecraft could pose a military threat due to its large payload bay.

They also believed that a U.S. shuttle could be used to capture Soviet satellites or deliver a nuclear first strike. The Kremlin quietly authorized the development of a Soviet space shuttle program—called the Buran program—and Soviet engineers began working on the Buran space shuttle.

The stated purpose of the Buran project was to enhance pride in the Soviet space program, conduct research, and help resupply the Mir space station. However, the Soviet space agency also hoped to eventually use the Buran for military purposes, including weapons delivery.

Valentin Glushko and his team of Soviet engineers intended to design a shuttle that was completely different than the United States space shuttles. However, as they conducted wind tunnel experiments and scale model test flights, they determined that many elements of NASA’s design were ideal.

Though the Buran shuttle shared many components with its American shuttle counterparts, including the use of hydrogen fuel cells, the Buran contained many unique mechanisms:

• Energia. The Buran shuttle featured a super-heavy rocket called the Energia (or Energiya) that consisted of four boosters and a core stage. The Energia rocket served as the launch vehicle for the Buran orbiter, which differed from the U.S. space shuttles’ use of integrated main engines. Though this made the Soviet space shuttle less reusable than the U.S. space shuttle orbiter (since the Soviet shuttle would lose its main engines after each flight), it had the advantage of being able to carry three times as much cargo. The Soviets believed that such a payload capacity could eventually help achieve a manned lunar base or perhaps a manned mission to Mars.
• Control system. As opposed to the U.S. shuttle boosters, each of the Energia’s boosters contained their own navigation and control systems. That meant that they could function as launch vehicles individually to deliver less heavy payloads.
• Automated flight system. The Buran space shuttle orbiter also contained a fully automated flight system, which meant that it could launch, orbit, and return without any crew. This would theoretically make the Buran capable of performing rescue missions for space stations or another stranded orbiter.
• Liquid propellant. The Energia’s boosters were powered by liquid propellant (as opposed to the solid propellant used by the space shuttle). Furthermore, the booster rockets were not segmented in the construction process, which meant that they were not vulnerable to the same leakage that ultimately doomed NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger.

The Orbiter K1 Buran launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome spaceport launch pad in southern Kazakhstan on November 15, 1988. The space shuttle orbiter completed two orbits around the Earth. After its orbital flight, the test flight concluded when it achieved reentry and performed an automated landing on the runway.

The Buran’s first launch also proved to be its last, as the project was suspended due to lack of funds and political turmoil in the Soviet Union. The cost of the Buran, which was significantly more expensive to produce than the Soyuz rocket, ultimately resulted in the abandonment of the program. Construction of the Ptichka—the second Buran-class orbiter—was never completed.

The Buran project resulted in the creation of one of the most powerful, technologically advanced space boosters in history. Were it not for the collapse of the USSR and the ensuing economic crisis that resulted in the abandonment of the Buran project, many space enthusiasts feel that Russia might have the capability to establish a lunar base or even send humans to Mars.