The Buran spacecraft was the Soviet Union's response to NASA's space shuttle program. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The Buran ...

For some reason, my social media feeds lately have been filled with images of "Russia's secret space shuttles" that have fallen into ruin. This is a little puzzling, since those shuttles haven't been ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Just before dawn on the morning of November 15, 1988, the Energiya ...

The “Soviet shuttle” project almost made the country bankrupt. Its cost was so high that an entire city for 10 million residents could have been built instead. Thirty years ago, on 15 November 1988, ...

The Buran did fly in space – just once, in November 1988, not long before the Soviet Union collapsed. Its lone mission was uncrewed. The Buran relied on an automated launch sequence, rode on an ...

Why was the Soviet shuttle's triumphant launch its first and last? And is there any hope that a Russian shuttle might at some point head for the stars? The Buran’s flight, which lasted 205 minutes, ...

In the 1980s, a little-known chapter in the space race took place when the Soviet Union attempted to build their own version of Nasa’s Space Shuttle. But despite a successful unmanned orbital test ...

Here’s What You Need to Know: The Buran program was judged a success and would likely have continued had the Cold War carried on. Unfortunately, it suffered from poor timing: the Soviet Union had ...