Buran programme

Uncommon card · No. 158156

The Buran programme (Russian: Буран, IPA: [bʊˈran], lit. 'Snowstorm' or 'Blizzard') was a Soviet and later Russian reusable spacecraft project to develop the Energia-Buran system, officially known as the Reusable Space System "Buran" (Многоразовая Космическая Система «Буран»), that formally began in 1976 and was suspended in 1993. In addition to being the designation for the whole Soviet/Russian reusable spacecraft project, Buran was also the name given to orbiter 1K, which completed one uncrewed spaceflight in 1988 and was the only Soviet reusable spacecraft to be launched into space. The Buran orbiters used the expendable Energia rocket as a launch vehicle. The Buran programme was started by the Soviet Union as a response to the United States Space Shuttle programme. The latter's unclassified nature was a boon for the Soviets and resulted in many superficial and functional similarities between American and Soviet shuttle designs. Although the Buran orbiter was similar in appearance to...

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