Буран/BURAN shuttle, Copy or Inspiration

[Mark Hardman]

While we could focus on the similarities and differences between the two program's shuttle hardware, I think the real difference was in the intended purpose and use of Buran. In a 2011 interview published in New Scientist, cosmonaut Oleg Kotov had the following exchange:

Quote:New Scientist: After the cold war, why didn’t Russia maintain its shuttle programme?
Oleg Kotov: We had no civilian tasks for Buran and the military ones were no longer needed. It was originally designed as a military system for weapon delivery, maybe even nuclear weapons. The American shuttle also has military uses.

The idea was to drop weapons from orbit?
Yes, absolutely. A shuttle is particularly useful for this because it can change its orbit and trajectory – so an attack from it is almost impossible to protect against. But the need for such military applications ended.

Absolutely chilling IMHO.

Mark Hardman