The Soviet Union already had a very successful spacecraft, the Soyuz (which is still used by Russia) and a number of launch systems tailored for the military and for any possible civilian needs like exploration and manned spaceflight. Buran and her sister ships would have been, without a doubt, a source of pride for the soviets, however if this was the only reason of sustaining such a costly project ,it was doomed to failure. A number of new technologies were developed and applied for this space system, a part coming from their defunct Moon program. Unlike its American counterpart, the boosters were reusable having large parachutes that opened during descent and the shuttle would have been fitted with turbojets in order to fly to secured military airstrips once its space mission was completed.
The United States decided to go with a reusable space shuttle because of several reasons: it offered a potentially more economical way of getting payloads into low-Earth orbit; it was part of a larger plan of creating a permanent American presence in space along with the proposed Space Station Freedom; and it was also meant to be a symbol of America's high technology.
| Buran1 | Space Shuttle2 | |
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| Developer | Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy at EKK Energia | NASA |
| Beginning of the programe | 12 February 1976 | 26 July 1972 |
| First flight | 15 November 1988 | 12 April 1981 |
| Dimensions and weight | Length = 36.37 m Wingspan = 23.92 Maximum weight = 105 tons Maximum payload weight = 30 tons |
Length = 37.18 m Wingspan = 23.77 Maximum weight = 110 tons Maximum payload weight = 25 tons |
| Number of boosters | 5 (4 side boosters and the main tank-booster rocket) | 2 (plus the actual shuttle) |
| Crew | 2-10 | 2-11 (mostly used 7) |
| Volume of crew compartment | 73 m3 | 66 m3 |
| Orbital maneuvering engine thrust | 17600 kgf | 5440 kgf |
1. Buran - www.buran.su
2. Space Shuttle - www.nasa.org
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