The Buran program, which once involved the hard work of so many talented individuals and so much of the USSR’s treasure, is now a footnote in space history.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union secretly built its own space shuttle to rival America’s NASA program. Called Buran, it ...

The Buran program was actually a two-part program, to develop the space plane itself—also named Buran —and a new booster, Energia, that would carry it into space.

The Buran space shuttle came as the Soviet response to the US program. The Energia Research and Production Association was chosen as the lead developer of the Energia-Buran reusable space system.

The Cold War shuttles, both a part of the Buran project, are located inside the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Deep in the Kazakh desert stand the remains of the Soviet Union’s boldest dream. The abandoned Buran shuttles, once rivals to NASA’s Space Shuttle, now rest in silence beneath a decaying hangar.

Russia’s Buran program was very short lived. Like, only one flight short lived. But according to cosmonaut (and ISS alum) Oleg Kotov, the craft had some serious potential—outclassing its ...

Another Buran program craft, OK-GLI, was used in 25 suborbital test flights and now resides in Germany’s Technikmuseum Speyer. But this is what remains of the launchpads used for Buran flights.

Orbiter (OK)-1K1 Buran made two orbits before returning to earth (unlike the Space Shuttle, Buran was capable of autonomous flight from the outset).

The Buran program was simply complying with a rule going back to Korolev’s days. Faced with the same dilemma, NASA had waived its own safety rule, and on the first shuttle mission, John Young ...