Buran launch vehicle
Spacecraft · Russia
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Design version of Energia, with the reusable Buran manned spaceplane mounted to the side of the core.
More at: Buran launch vehicle.
Related
- Family
- orbital launch vehicle, Winged
- Country
- Russia
- Launch Sites
- Baikonur, Baikonur LC110L
- Stages
- Energia Strapon, Energia Core, Energia EUS
- Agency
- Korolev bureau
Chronology
5 events
1988 October 23
LV Family: Buran. Launch Vehicle: Buran launch vehicle.1988 October 26
LV Family: Buran. Launch Vehicle: Buran launch vehicle.- Buran launch commission meets - . Nation: Russia. Spacecraft: Buran. The launch commission met on 26 October 1988 and set 29 October 06:23 Moscow time for the first flight of the first Buran orbiter (Flight 1K1)..
1988 October 29
LV Family: Buran. Launch Vehicle: Buran launch vehicle.- Buran first launch attempt - .
Nation: Russia.
Spacecraft: Buran.
51 seconds before the launch, when control of the countdown switched to automated systems, a software problem led the computer program to abort the lift-off. The problem was found to be due to late separation of a gyro update umbilical. The software problem was rectified and the next attempt was set for 15 November at 06:00 (03:00 GMT).
1988 November 15
LV Family: Buran. Launch Vehicle: Buran launch vehicle.- Buran - .
Nation: Russia.
Spacecraft: Buran.
The weather was snow flurries with 20 m/s winds. Launch abort criteria were 15 m/s. The launch director decided to press ahead anyway. After 12 years of development everything went perfectly. Buran, with a mass of 79.4 tonnes, separated from the Block Ts core and entered a temporary orbit with a perigee of -11.2 km and apogee of 154.2 km. At apogee Burn executed a 66.6 m/s manoeuvre and entered a 251 km x 263 km orbit of the earth. In the payload bay was the 7150 kg module 37KB s/n 37071. 140 minutes into the flight retrofire was accomplished with a total delta-v of 175 m/s. 206 minutes after launch, accompanied by Igor Volk in a MiG-25 chase plane, Buran touched down at 260 km/hr in a 17 m/s crosswind at the Jubilee runway, with a 1620 m landing rollout. The completely automatic launch, orbital manoeuvre, deorbit, and precision landing of an airliner-sized spaceplane on its very first flight was an unprecedented accomplishment of which the Soviets were justifiably proud. It completely vindicated the years of exhaustive ground and flight test that had debugged the systems before they flew.
1988 November 15
03:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC110L. LV Family: Buran. Launch Vehicle: Buran launch vehicle.- Buran - .
Payload: Buran OK-1K s/n 711. Mass: 79,400 kg (175,000 lb). Nation: Russia.
Agency: MOM.
Program: Buran.
Class: Manned.
Type: Manned spaceplane. Spacecraft: Buran.
Duration: 0.14 days. Decay Date: 1988-11-15 . USAF Sat Cat: 19637 . COSPAR: 1988-100A. Apogee: 256 km (159 mi). Perigee: 247 km (153 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 89.50 min.
Unmanned test of Soviet shuttle. Landed November 15, 1988 06:25 GMT. Buran was first moved to the launch pad on 23 October 1988. The launch commission met on 26 October 1988 and set 29 October 06:23 Moscow time for the first flight of the first Buran orbiter (Flight 1K1). 51 seconds before the launch, when control of the countdown switched to automated systems, a software problem led the computer program to abort the lift-off. The problem was found to be due to late separation of a gyro update umbilical. The software problem was rectified and the next attempt was set for 15 November at 06:00 (03:00 GMT). Came the morning, the weather was snow flurries with 20 m/s winds. Launch abort criteria were 15 m/s. The launch director decided to press ahead anyway. After 12 years of development everything went perfectly. Buran, with a mass of 79.4 tonnes, separated from the Block Ts core and entered a temporary orbit with a perigee of -11.2 km and apogee of 154.2 km. At apogee Burn executed a 66.6 m/s manoeuvre and entered a 251 km x 263 km orbit of the earth. In the payload bay was the 7150 kg module 37KB s/n 37071. 140 minutes into the flight retrofire was accomplished with a total delta-v of 175 m/s. 206 minutes after launch, accompanied by Igor Volk in a MiG-25 chase plane, Buran touched down at 260 km/hr in a 17 m/s crosswind at the Jubilee runway, with a 1620 m landing rollout. The completely automatic launch, orbital manoeuvre, deorbit, and precision landing of an airliner-sized spaceplane on its very first flight was an unprecedented accomplishment of which the Soviets were justifiably proud. It completely vindicated the years of exhaustive ground and flight test that had debugged the systems before they flew.