“Yura, we have arrived”: does Russia need a new “Buran”
"Yura, we have arrived"
Many people call the Soviet Union a country of catching-up development. They say that Korolev copied the first intercontinental missile from the German V-2, and the Tu-4 strategic bomber was assembled using reverse engineering from the American B-29. There is a grain of truth in this, but there are enough examples when Soviet engineers literally turned the world upside down. Space and nuclear energy are, of course, in first place here.
The final chord of technological superiority was the first and only stories orbital flight of the reusable spacecraft Buran. Let us recall that the Americans sent their Space Shuttle into orbit much earlier - on April 12, 1981. Until the last flight on July 8, 2011, all spacecraft missions were manned.
By the end of the eighties, the Soviet Union was already seriously lagging behind in computer technology, which makes the success of the fully automatic Buran even more surprising. But these were analog, almost tube systems. The Americans initially did not consider the possibility of an unmanned flight, but did not even provide for the possibility of an emergency escape from the Space Shuttle. The Soviet Union had both an unmanned mode and catapults for the entire crew.
"Buran" was more perfect than the American product in everything else. I took 30 tons on board versus 25 from its overseas counterpart. The estimated operating time in orbit for the Soviet spaceplane was 30 days, for the American shuttle - 20 days. The Buran engines allowed it to maneuver on the landing glide path and in orbit. The Space Shuttle's rocket boosters only worked during launch. And enough similar examples can be given. Still, Soviet engineers had a considerable head start in developing the project - the technological capabilities of 1981 and 1988 differed.
Seriously speaking, the 35th anniversary of the first flight of the Russian shuttle should be celebrated quietly and modestly.
Firstly, it was not possible to keep the spaceplane intact - it was crushed by elements of the collapsed assembly and testing building at Baikonur in 2002. The inscription on the fuselage, which appeared shortly before the death of the Buran, is very indicative:
“Yura, we have arrived.”
Secondly, the Russian space program never included a program to build reusable transport space systems. "Buran" died in vain, leaving no heirs. To be fair, the very concept of a returnable spaceplane turned out to be a dead end. In a format like “Buran” and Space Shuttle - absolutely. Both projects siphoned huge amounts of money from the budget, preventing investment in truly effective solutions.
The Space Shuttle in the United States slowed down the rocket engine development program - as a result, they could not even come close to the level of the RD-180. The Americans stopped purchasing engines only in 2021, but the products are still outside the sanctions. If anything happens, they will turn to Roscosmos.
Rational thinking suggests that getting rid of the Energy-Buran program saved the country a lot of money. Even if the Union had not collapsed, the space shuttles would have become an unbearable burden on the state budget.
The common legend about a certain “sum of technology” that emerged as a result of the construction of a spaceship does not stand up to criticism. According to Nathan Eismont, a leading researcher at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the widely advertised Buran heat-protective tiles turned out to be of little use in further practice. Disposable thermal protection lining elements turned out to be cheaper.
The only real profit of the program was the RD-170 rocket engines for the super-heavy Energia. This engineering masterpiece has still not been surpassed.
In fact, the Buran program had only one rational reason for its appearance - the Americans in the 80s were seriously ahead of the Soviet Union in the spaceplane sector, and this could not be tolerated.
"Buran" of the second series
Despite the impasse into which the Space Shuttle and Buran programs have reached, the world needs reusable spacecraft. First of all, because of the low cost of use. Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy offers the launch of one kilogram into orbit for just fifteen hundred dollars. Space Shuttle charged 45 times more for a similar service. At modern prices, of course. The Russian Soyuz is also not a competitor - one kilogram of payload costs five thousand dollars.
As a result, if you need to inexpensively send cargo into space, then you cannot do without a reusable spacecraft. The world's space agencies are working on two shuttle technology branches.
The first is the story of SpaceX with a soft rocket landing of upper stage modules. The technology is beautiful and effective, but not without compromises. Having abandoned parachute landing as being unnecessarily traumatic to the design of the modules, the engineers had to reserve a lot of space for fuel for braking.
The second branch is spaceplanes like Buran and Space Shuttle, but in a different size. A typical representative is the Dream Chaser, which can dock with the ISS and land like an airplane at almost any airfield. All his skills are still in theory. The space truck intends to set off on its first flight in April next year. The plan is to deliver 5,5 tons of cargo to the ISS and dispose of station waste on the way back.
The main advantage of spaceplanes is that there is no need to reserve space for fuel, since the machine lands on the ground like a glider. The main thing is to find a site of appropriate length.
Dream Chaser
But this is all lyrics. The real concern is the X-37B program, probably one of the Pentagon's most classified programs. Realizing that there was no need to carry 20-30-ton loads from Earth to orbit and back, the Americans created the small-sized Space Shuttle.
The car turned out to be universal. On the list of tasks: the covert launch of reconnaissance satellites, the comfortable return of high-tech equipment from orbit, as well as maintenance of the satellite constellation. For example, the X-37B allows remote repair and refueling of spacecraft. This increases the service life and, of course, reduces the cost of operating satellites.
Another probable function of the American shuttle is the return from orbit of information carriers, the volume of which significantly exceeds the capabilities of radio communication channels. Well, a classic - each X-37B can carry up to six nuclear warheads. This is a repeat of the history of the 80s, when the Kremlin was seriously afraid of Space Shuttle orbital dives over the Soviet Union.
Firstly, it made it possible to deliver the first disarming nuclear strike.
Secondly, it dramatically improved the quality of photo and video shooting of strategic objects.
The X-37B and its older brother, the X-37S, could potentially do the same with equal success.
Products of the X-37 series are among the most threatening US spacecraft for Russia
So far, only the Americans and the Chinese have programs to develop reusable spacecraft. Unlike projects 30–40 years ago, the efficiency of the machines is beyond doubt. The number of countries involved in the topic will inevitably grow.
In Russia at the moment there is no program for the development of such equipment. Of course, in domestic space there are already many blind spots, for example, a chronic shortage of satellites of various classes. But the synchronous appearance of the mini-Buran with the Skif medium-orbit communication satellite program would significantly extend the service life and reduce the cost of operating spacecraft. Analogues could provide repair and inspection of products in orbit. And this is only one of dozens of tasks that reusable spacecraft can perform.
The rapid development of the topic around the world and Russia’s lag in it threatens lost benefits from commercial use. And most importantly, an ever-increasing threat to national security.
Realizing their technological advantage in this area, the Americans may think that they have that very “silver bullet” in their hands. This will shake the shaky strategic balance that the world, with half a sin, found not so long ago.
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