The Russian Space Shuttle

The Buran shuttle was a Russian orbital vehicle developed as a response to the US Space Shuttle which was suspected by Russia to have military capabilities, although their security advisors could not be sure of what that capability might be. The Buran completed one unmanned orbital mission in 1988 before the programme was cancelled in the early 90’s. The Buran was left in a hangar which collapsed in 2002, due to lack of maintenance, wrecking the craft. The wreckage of the Shuttle was moved to the docks at Tushino and left to rot in the open air. Recently however, it has been moved from Tushino to Zhukovsky where it will be restored and shown at the air show MAKS-2013.