Energiya-Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle

by Bart Hendrickx, Bert Vis

In Energiya-Buran: the Soviet Space Shuttle, the authors describe the long development path of the Soviet space shuttle system, consisting of the Energiya rocket and the Buran orbiter. The program eventually saw just one unmanned flight in November 1988 before the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union sealed its fate.

After a Foreword provided by lead Buran test pilot Igor Volk, the authors look at the experience gradually accumulated in high-speed aeronautics with the development of various Soviet rocket planes and intercontinental cruise missiles between the 1930s to 1950s and the study of several small spaceplanes in the 1960s. Next the authors explain how the perceived military threat of the US Space Shuttle led to the decision in February 1976 to build a Soviet equivalent, and explore the evolution of the design until it was frozen in 1979. Following this is a detailed technical description of both Energiya and Buran and a look at nominal flight scenarios and emergency situations, highlighting similarities and differences with the US Space Shuttle.

The authors then expand on the managerial aspects of the Energiya-Buran program, sum up the main design bureaus and production facilities involved in the project and describe the infrastructure needed to transport the hardware and prepare it for launch at the Baikonur cosmodrome. They go on to detail the selection and training of teams of civilian and military test pilots for Buran, crew assignments for the first manned missions and preparatory flights aboard Soyuz spacecraft.

Next the focus turns to the extensive test program that preceded the first flight of Buran, notably the often trouble-plagued test firings of rocket engines, the first flight of Energiya with the enigmatic Polyus payload, test flights of subscale models and atmospheric approach and landing tests. After an analysis of Western speculation on the Soviet space shuttle effort in the pre-glasnost era, a detailed account is given of final preparations for the maiden flight of Buran and the mission itself.

In the final chapters the authors look at the gradual demise of the project in the early 1990s, the fate of the Soviet orbiters and their cosmodrome infrastructure, cancelled missions, and the many planned derivatives of the Energiya rocket. Attention is also paid to technological spin-offs such as the Zenit and Sea Launch projects and the RD-180 and RD-191 rocket engines. Finally, an overview is given of alternative spaceplane proposals during and after the Buran era, including the MAKS air-launched spaceplane, the Kliper spacecraft and various single-stage-to-orbit systems.

The book closes off with key specifications of the Energiya-Buran system, short biographies of the Buran pilots, an extensive list of Russian acronyms, a short bibliographical essay and a detailed index. Based largely on Russian sources, it is richly illustrated with some 250 pictures and diagrams.

Although Energiya-Buran was primarily a program of unfulfilled promises and shattered dreams, it represented a major technological breakthrough for the Soviet Union and its story deserves to be told.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, Science, History

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jon Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own a copy of this book in paperback. It was a gift for Fathers Day in 2024 from my son. It is a massive book (485 pages including appendices) that covers just about every imaginable aspect of the ill-fated Soviet space shuttle system. The book provides an overview of Soviet work to develop reusable space planes before Buran, then plunges into the Buran story which has its beginnings in the 1970's, largely in response to the US shuttle program. The Buran shuttle, which flew only a single uncrewed mission in 1988, has long been derided as a simple knock-off copy of the US space shuttle, but the reality is far more interesting and complex. This book covers the design of both the orbiter and its massive Energiya booster and their numerous subsystems, and also covers testing of the equipment, facilities that had to be built and/or modified to test and fly it, the selection and training of the cosmonauts that were to fly it, the single mission, the decision to retire the system, and post-Soviet developments and derivatives. The book is loaded with B&W photos and diagrams. My take-away is that the Soviets designed a unique and capable craft that in some ways had greater capabilities than its US counterpart, but like the US shuttle, Buran suffered from lack of a clearly defined mission and it was subsequently cancelled after its maiden flight. It took me a long time to get through this book but I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a must read book for anyone interested in space history, especially Soviet space history. Five out of five stars.

[Willy Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting and detailed account of the development of the technologically sophisticated but politically and economically doomed Soviet shuttle Buran and its rocket Energiya, but the book suffers from a lack of a clear argument or a strong narrative throughline.

[n · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read of the Russian space shuttle.
Historical details and technical details are very interesting although sometimes a bit boring. Nevertheless I am happy to have read this book.

[Alexander Hainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book with so much detail! Such an interesting technological story.

[Paddy Fagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well researched book, but a bit hard to read in places

[Bob Laubach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic detailed book on the ill-fated Buran. The extensive book puts Buran into the perspective of the Soviet space program with excellent photographs and illustrations.

[Nickolai Belakovski]

Very wide-reaching overview of the whole of Buran-Energia, stemming from the early spaceplane designs of the 1950's and 1960's all the way through the attempts to market the smaller version of Energia, the Energia-M in the late 1990's