The Soviet space shuttle program may surprise many people because it only flew once.

It is undeniable that the NASA space shuttle program is one of the most outstanding achievements in the space race. In fact, it is one of the best technical achievements in the world. The space shuttle was first launched in 1981 and was used until the last flight of the program at Atlantis in 2011. The disasters of the Challenger and Columbia had tragedies along the way, and this must never be forgotten. However, some people may be surprised when they learn that the Soviet Union actually has its own space shuttle program.

The Soviet space shuttle program may surprise many people because it has only flown once with unmanned flight capabilities and has never been used as often as the US space shuttle. The Soviets called their orbiter Blizzard, and the world first learned of Blizzard in November 1988. In some respects, the Soviet space shuttle is actually better than the United States. But when the Soviets realized that NASA's space shuttle would not be used for military purposes, the Russians really did not need to continue developing the Blizzard.

The NASA space shuttle was scheduled for its first launch in 1981, when Colombia launched the space mission STS-1 on April 12, 1981, and subsequently conducted three test flights with Colombia in 1981 and 1982. This marked the beginning of the US Space Shuttle Program. The idea of ​​the program was to send various satellites into space, perform missions on the International Space Station, etc., but under the watchful eye of the Soviet Union, they began to worry. They began to wonder whether the Americans would use the space shuttle for military missions.

The Soviets firmly believed that the United States was likely to use the space shuttle as a space weapon, especially if it achieved its goal of 60 launches per year. The Soviets believed that laser weapons could be put into orbit for testing before returning to Earth, and even Soviet satellites could be captured. This led to the construction of the Blizzard, whose development and research have been kept secret in the Kremlin for many years. When Columbia was first launched in 1981, the Soviet media severely criticized the United States for launching military spacecraft. As you might expect, when the Soviet blizzard debuted, it looked a lot like NASA's space shuttle.

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With so much unclassified information on the NASA space shuttle, it is no surprise that when the world finally saw the space shuttle Blizzard, it was very similar to the American space shuttle. The similarity between TU-144 and Concorde lies in Soviet espionage. Unlike TU-144, Blizzard is almost a free replica of the space shuttle. The Soviet Union just wanted the space shuttle to match the capabilities of the US orbiter. However, one more thing to note is that the Soviet Union already knows one or two things about space travel and rockets.

This means that the Soviets may actually have designed a better orbiter. The US space shuttle has its own engine, but requires two solid rocket boosters to get into orbit. At the same time, the Blizzard has no engines and only relies on energy rockets to send it into orbit. This is a rocket with a core stage and four boosters. The NASA space shuttle may be more reusable, but the Buran can carry 30 tons and is lighter than the space shuttle's 29. In addition, Energia can also be used for other space missions. It is different from the rocket booster and fuel tank of the space shuttle.

One of the main advantages of the Soviet Blizzard was the use of liquid fuel boosters on Energy. This has a great advantage over the space shuttle's solid rocket booster, which cannot be shut down in an emergency. However, Energia's rocket may be, plus Buran has an ejection seat installed. Only two space shuttles have ejection seats and can only accommodate two crew members. Blizzard’s system may have helped in the Challenger’s disaster of 1986. The blizzard took off on November 15, 1988, and the West was very impressed, especially its fully automatic flight system. However, despite the impressive first launch, Blizzard’s days are already numbered.

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The Soviet Union faced collapse in the late 1980s, and snowstorm funding began to dry up. Buran is as expensive as the American space shuttle, but the Soviets also have expendable rockets to enter space. At the same time, the United States completely abandoned this concept in favor of the space shuttle. When the US space shuttle clearly had no military potential, the Soviet Union did not want to continue to develop the Blizzard. The orbiter was unveiled at the Paris Air Show in 1989, but was soon stored in the hangar of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. In 2002, the collapse of the hangar destroyed the Blizzard, killed 8 workers and destroyed an Energia model.

Today, only two Buran orbiters exist. None of them were used, one was for ground use, and the other completed 90% of the space flight before the project stopped. Both are said to be stored at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. These are the only reminders of the Soviet Union's space shuttle program. The only blizzard that flew was not saved for future generations. This is of course a huge regret.

Source: Flite Test, History Net, Space, Soviet Union Transcendence, Buran, collectSPACE

The Eastern Group may not have any famous car manufacturers or priceless classics, but this does not mean that the Soviet Union did not make some cool cars.

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