Buran News

I published today a page on the TsAGI institut (institut of aerodynamical tests), illustrated by lot of pictures of the mock-ups used in the wind tunnels, Buran, Energia EPOS,…

Update of June 9:

Addition of new mock-up pictures.

I put on-line a complete chapter on the SPIRAL project. Project which began in the 60s, it had to goal to make a horizontal thrower to put into orbit combat spaceplanes (before the project Star Wars).

At the moment there is only the French part, the translation into English will be on-line soon.

Good reading.

Update of May 23:

The english translation is now available.

On May 15th, 1957 (50 years ago), the USSR proceeded to its first rocket fire, R7 (it exploded some minutes later). It is only October 4th of the same year that R7 put into orbit successfully the Sputnik, first artificial satellite of the Earth. This historic launch was going to open the gates of the space conquest. Conquest won at first by the tremendous leadership of the Soviets (first satellite, first man in the space, first woman in the space, first pedestrian spatial), but these last ones were overtake by the Americans and lost the race to the Moon.

At the end of the 70s the Soviets decided to come back on the front scene after the bitter echec of N1, they launch the Buran-Energia project, the heavy thrower Energia of which allows to put on low orbit 100 t of payload.

It is the May 15th, 1987 (20 years ago) the first launch of Energia took place. Initially planned with a fictitious payload (placed on the side of the thrower), the launch will be made finally with the Polyus system. But after a breakdown of the Polyus’s propulsion system it was not able to reach its working orbit and crashed in the Pacific Ocean.

In spite of this failure the Energia thrower carries out his mission (2 launches at all since this date) with success.

Regrettably, Energia was give up after the fall of the USSR by the Russian authorities, because the thrower is partially Ukrainian.