List of Buran missions explained

See main article: Buran programme and Buran (spacecraft).

The Buran programme was an attempt by the Soviet Union to construct an orbital spaceplane to perform similar functions to the Space Shuttle. Similar to the Space Shuttle programme, an aerodynamic prototype and a number of operational spacecraft were planned for the Buran programme,[1] which were known as "Buran-class orbiters".

Test flights

The aerodynamic testbed OK-GLI was constructed in 1984 to test the in-flight properties of the Buran design. Unlike the American prototype Enterprise, OK-GLI had four AL-31 turbofan engines fitted, meaning it was able to fly under its own power.[2]

The list does not include taxi tests without takeoffs.All of these missions were landed at the Gromov Flight Research Institute test base.

NoFlight dateCrewDurationNotesSources
110 November 1985 00d 00h 12m
  • First flight of OK-GLI
[3] [4]
23 January 1986
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 36m
327 May 1986
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 23m
411 June 1986
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 22m
  • Semi-automatic gliding
520 June 1986 00d 00h 25m
  • Semi-automatic gliding
628 June 1986
  • Anatoli Levchenko
  • Alexandr Shchukin
00d 00h 23m
  • Semi-automatic gliding
710 December 1986
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 24m
  • Automated control turned off before touchdown
  • Considered the first automatic landing
823 December 1986
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 17m
  • Automatic landing
929 December 1986
  • Anatoli Levchenko
  • Alexandr Shchukin
00d 00h 17m
  • Automatic landing
1016 February 1987
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 28m
  • Officially the first fully automatic landing
1121 May 1987
  • Anatoli Levchenko
  • Alexander Shchukin
00d 00h 20m
  • Automatic landing
1225 June 1987
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 19m
  • Automatic landing
135 October 1987
  • Alexander Shchukin
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 21m
  • Automatic landing
1415 October 1987
  • Ivan Bachurin
  • Alexei Borodai
00d 00h 19m
  • Automatic landing
1516 January 1988
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 22m
  • Automatic landing
[5]
1624 January 1988
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 11m
  • Automatic landing
1723 February 1988
  • Ivan Bachurin
  • Alexei Borodai
00d 00h 22m
  • First flight of extended test program.
  • Automatic landing
184 March 1988
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 32m
  • Automatic landing
1912 March 1988
  • Ivan Bachurin
  • Alexei Borodai
00d 00h 20m
  • Automatic landing
2023 March 1988
  • Ivan Bachurin
  • Alexei Borodai
00d 00h 43m
  • Automatic landing
2128 March 1988
  • Ivan Bachurin
  • Alexei Borodai
00d 00h 19m
  • Automatic landing
222 April 1988
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Alexander Schukin
00d 00h 20m
  • Automatic landing
238 April 1988
  • Alexander Schukin
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
00d 00h 21m
  • Automatic landing
2415 April 1988
  • Rimantas Stankevičius
  • Igor Volk
00d 00h 19m
  • Automatic landing
  • Last flight of OK-GLI

Launches and orbital flights

The first operational orbiter, Buran flew one test mission, designated 1K1, on November 15, 1988 at 6:00:00 Moscow time.[6] The spacecraft was launched uncrewed from and landed at Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh S.S.R. and flew two orbits, traveling 83707km (52,013miles) in 3 hours, 25 minutes (0.14 flight days).[7] Buran never flew again; the program was cancelled shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[8] In 2002, the Buran orbiter was destroyed by the collapse of the hangar in which it was stored.[9] [10]

Cancelled missions

Planned in 1989[15]

NoLaunch dateMissionShuttleCrewDurationLanding siteMission details
2Q4 19912K11.02None2dBaikonurFirst flight of 1.02
3Q1-Q2 19922K21.02None7-8dBaikonurMir docking
419931K2BuranNone15-20dBaikonur
519943K12.01 1dBaikonurFirst crewed flight
First flight of 2.01
61994two cosmonautsBaikonurSecond crewed flight
71994two cosmonautsBaikonurThird crewed flight
81995two cosmonautsBaikonurFourth crewed flight
91995two cosmonautsBaikonurFifth crewed flight
Last planned orbital test flight

Planned in 1991

Due to shortening of the program and delays in second flight preparations, mission plan for second orbiter included almost all significant test tasks.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Buran Orbiter . Molniya Research & Industrial Corporation . 3 October 2014.
  2. Web site: Spaceshuttle BURAN . TECHNIK MUSEUM SPEYER . 2 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006115142/http://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/en/spaceshuttle-buran . 6 October 2014 .
  3. Web site: Buran Analogue . https://web.archive.org/web/20020425123248/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/burlogue.htm . dead . April 25, 2002 . Encyclopedia Astronautica . 3 October 2014.
  4. Web site: BTS-002 / OK GLI . Zak . Anthony . Russian Space Web . 16 November 2013 . 2 October 2014.
  5. Web site: OK-GLI chronology (in russian) . 10 April 2020.
  6. Book: Energiya-Buran: the Soviet space shuttle . Bart . Hendrickx . Bert . Vis . Springer . 2007 . 9780387739847 . 349 . 10.1007/978-0-387-73984-7 .
  7. Book: Energiya-Buran: the Soviet space shuttle . Bart . Hendrickx . Bert . Vis . Springer . 2007 . 9780387739847 . 356 . 10.1007/978-0-387-73984-7 .
  8. Book: The New Book of Popular Science . 1 . 2008 . Scholastic . 9780717212262 . 257 .
  9. Book: Energiya-Buran: the Soviet space shuttle . Bart . Hendrickx . Bert . Vis . Springer . 2007 . 9780387739847 . 388 . 10.1007/978-0-387-73984-7 .
  10. News: BBC . Russia's space dreams abandoned . . 2007-11-14 . 2002-05-13 . Whitehouse . David .
  11. News: Soviet Space Shuttle Orbits and Returns In Unmanned Debut . Felicity Barringer . November 16, 1988 . The New York Times . 2013-11-23 .
  12. News: Soviet shuttle . Christian Science Monitor . 17 November 1988 . 15 January 2013.
  13. News: Russia starts ambitious super-heavy space rocket project . Space Daily . 19 November 2013 . 2 October 2014 .
  14. Web site: Циклограммы полета "Бурана" 15 ноября 1988 г.. www.buran.ru.
  15. Web site: http://www.buran.ru/htm/pilots.htm . ru:Экипажи "Бурана": Несбывшиеся планы . The Crews of "Buran": Unfulfilled Plans . Buran.ru . Vadim . Lukashevich . 5 August 2006 . ru.