Buran Reusable Orbiter

Buran was the Soviet reusable winged orbital-shuttle vehicle developed as the spacecraft element of the Energia-Buran system. Its integrated motor unit comprised two 17Д12 orbital-operation engines rated at 90 kN each, 38 control engines rated at 4 kN each, and eight precision-orientation engines rated at 200 N each, according to technical-history documentation. The unit supported separation from Energia, movement to a working orbit, stabilization and orientation, orbital operations, rendezvous and docking, and descent control. The documentation identifies liquid oxygen and a synthetic noncryogenic hydrocarbon for main propulsion and gas oxygen for precision steering. A technical table adapted from Semyonov (ed. 1995) lists 36.37 m overall length, 16.35 m ground height, 23.92 m wingspan, and a 105 t maximum launch mass; these are design-data values, not a universal operational claim. The only orbital Buran vehicle flew uncrewed for two orbits and landed automatically in 1988; the programme ended before a crewed flight.