Editing Buran programme (section)

=== Ground facilities ===
[[File:"Buran" launch at Baikonur.JPEG|thumb|Early illustration of a Buran launch at Baikonur]]
Maintenance, launches and landings of the Buran-class orbiters were to take place at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] in the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]]. Several facilities at Baikonur were adapted or newly built for these purposes:

* [[File:"Buran" at launch pad.JPEG|thumb|Illustration of ''Buran'' and Energia at Site 110]][[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110|Site 110]] – Used for the launch of the Buran-class orbiters. Like the assembly and processing hall at Site 112, the launch complex was originally constructed for the [[Soviet crewed lunar programs|Soviet lunar landing program]] and later converted for the Energia-Buran program.
* Site 112 – Used for orbiter maintenance and to mate the orbiters to their [[Energia (rocket)|Energia]] launchers (thus fulfilling a role similar to the [[Vehicle Assembly Building|VAB]] at [[Kennedy Space Center|KSC]]). The main hangar at the site, called ''MIK RN'' or ''MIK 112'', was originally built for the assembly of the [[N1 (rocket)|N1 Moon rocket]]. After cancellation of the N-1 programme in 1974, the facilities at Site 112 were converted for the Energia-Buran programme. It was here that [[Buran (spacecraft)|orbiter 1K]] was stored after the end of the Buran programme and was destroyed when the hangar roof collapsed in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_112.html |title=Centers: Baikonur: Energia-Buran facilities: Site 112 |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=7 April 2013 |access-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706112853/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_112.html |archive-date=6 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buran-energia.com/bourane-buran/bourane-fin.php |title=End of an adventure |website=Buran-Energia.com |first=Vassili |last=Petrovitch |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=5 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905191348/http://www.buran-energia.com/bourane-buran/bourane-fin.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Site 251 – Used as Buran orbiter landing facility, also known as ''Yubileyniy Airfield'' (and fulfilling a role similar to the [[Shuttle Landing Facility|SLF]] at [[Kennedy Space Center|KSC]]). It features one runway, called 06/24, which is {{convert|4500|m|yd}} long and {{convert|84|m|yd}} wide, paved with "Grade 600" high quality reinforced concrete. At the edge of the runway was a special [[Mate-Demate Device|mating-demating device]], designed to lift an orbiter off its [[Antonov An-225 Mriya]] carrier aircraft and load it on a transporter, which would carry the orbiter to the processing building at Site 254. A purpose-built orbiter landing control facility, housed in a large multi-storey office building, was located near the runway. ''Yubileyniy Airfield'' was also used to receive heavy transport planes carrying elements of the Energia-Buran system. After the end of the Buran programme, Site 251 was abandoned but later reopened as a commercial cargo airport. Besides serving Baikonur, Kazakh authorities also use it for passenger and charter flights from Russia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_251.html |title=Centers: Baikonur: Energia-Buran facilities: Site 251 |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=7 April 2013 |access-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225010245/http://russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_251.html |archive-date=25 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ourairports.com/airports/UAON/ |title=UAON |website=OurAirports |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817040312/http://ourairports.com/airports/UAON/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Site 254 – Built to service the Buran-class orbiters between flights (thus fulfilling a role similar to the [[Orbiter Processing Facility|OPF]] at [[Kennedy Space Center|KSC]]). Constructed in the 1980s as a special four-bay building, it also featured a large processing area flanked by several floors of test rooms. After cancellation of the Buran programme it was adapted for pre-launch operations of the [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] and [[Progress (spacecraft)|Progress]] spacecraft.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_254.html |title=Centers: Baikonur: Energia-Buran facilities: Site 254 |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=28 October 2009 |access-date=2 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809030907/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_energia_254.html |archive-date=9 August 2015}}</ref>