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Buran

completedLaunch 1988-100
Launched 11/15/1988LEOService GSat LEO SR
Admin Edit
Payloads
Assets deployed on this mission, enriched from spacecraft records.
1 payload
Buran OK-1K
retired
Human Spaceflight
LEO
Launch Details
Launch Date
11/15/1988
Launch ID
1988-100
Launch Profile
Sat LEO SR
Service Type
G
Orbit
LEO
Launch Stack
Operator
Russian Ministry of Defense
Launch Vehicle
Energiya
Launch Site
NIIP-5, Baykonur, KazakstanSU
Payload Summary
Payload Count
1
Payload Status
retired 1
Payload Mission Types
Human Spaceflight 1
Track
Mentions
10
All verified mentions of this mission in source documents.

The new APAS became the default docking port for NPO Energia projects and was included in plans for Buran, the Mir-2 space station, and the reusable Zarya capsule.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Jun 22, 2026A history of the APAS docking system

The later APAS became the default docking port for NPO Energia projects and was included in plans for Buran, the Mir-2 space station, and the reusable Zarya capsule.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Jun 22, 2026A history of the APAS docking system

An alternative early plan would have launched the pre-assembled Science Power Platform on one or two Buran flights.

PlanValue 3.5Apr 27, 2026Science Power Platform: the ISS’s cancelled power module

Preliminary estimates for Mir-2 required two Zarya flights per year, three Progress M2 vehicles, and one to two Buran orbiters.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Mar 23, 2026Zarya: the Super-Soyuz that only lived twice

Zarya’s crew module reused Buran-derived reusable thermal protection and could be reused up to 30 to 50 times.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Mar 23, 2026Zarya: the Super-Soyuz that only lived twice

The first and only launch of the Soviet Buran space shuttle took place in November 1988 without a crew.

PlanGeneralValue 2.5Feb 17, 2025Power lifting: Cold War satellite reconnaissance and the Buran space shuttle

The remains of Energia and Buran are decaying in Kazakhstan.

GeneralValue 2.2Feb 17, 2025Power lifting: Cold War satellite reconnaissance and the Buran space shuttle

The Energia and Buran programs were both eventually grounded and canceled due to expense.

FinancialGeneralValue 3.0Feb 17, 2025Power lifting: Cold War satellite reconnaissance and the Buran space shuttle

Dauren Musa claims to own an abandoned Buran shuttle at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

GeneralValue 2.1Sep 9, 2024Review: The Wrong Stuff

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket used for Progress MS-25 is decorated with depictions commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Buran reusable space shuttle flight.

GeneralValue 2.0Dec 1, 2023Russia’s Progress MS-25 resupply ship launches to space station