Buran was the Russian space shuttle project, begining in 1974 and continuing until its 1993 cancelation. The Buran shuttle looked almost identical to the
NASA Space Shuttle, and launched into space on the back of the
Energiya rocket. Its first and only lauch was in mid November, 1988. This flight was entirely conrolled by computers on the ground and was unmanned. The project was scrapped due to lack of both funds and necessity. Only two of the 5 planned shuttles were ever completed. The completed shuttles called 1.01 and 1.02 and the remains of the project are now property of Kazakstan. Buran is Russian for "snowstorm" or "blizzard"