Buran was the first spaceplane to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran program. Buran completed one uncrewed spaceflight in 1988, and was destroyed in 2002 due to the collapse of its storage hangar. The Buran-class orbiters used the expendable Energia rocket, a class of super heavy-lift launch vehicle. Besides describing the first operational Soviet/Russian shuttle orbiter, "Buran" was also the designation for the entire Soviet/Russian spaceplane project and its flight articles, which were known as "Buran-class orbiters".
Buran on An-225 at the 1989 Paris Air Show
Buran heat tiles visible on the OK-GLI aerotester, on display at the Technik Museum Speyer
Top of the Buran crew module, at the front of the ship, with the flight deck (Command Compartment - KO) visible through the payload bay windows.
Shuttle Buran docked to Mir using the docking module in the forward part of the payload bay (artist concept)
A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to conventional spacecraft, while sub-orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to fixed-wing aircraft. All spaceplanes to date have been rocket-powered for takeoff and climb, but have then landed as unpowered gliders.
Space Shuttle Discovery
X-37B after landing.
Dream Chaser test vehicle.
Landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis, a crewed orbital spaceplane
