2K

Airframe no.: 1.02

Energia designation: 2K

Alternative designations: Buran-2, Burya (hypothetical), Ptichka (erroneous)

The second flight series orbiter. Flight readiness at the beginning of 1993 was estimated at 95–97%.

2K never officially received a name; in the late 80s it was usually referred to in Western publications as “Buran-2”. The name Ptichka (lit. “birdie”, “little bird”) first appeared in Aviation Week’s 7 November 1988 issue, notably before the orbital flight of 1K. Russian sources don’t mention “Ptichka” at all, the name was reportedly used by people working on the program to refer to all orbiters — just like how American aviators would call military planes “birds” — and misinterpreted by journalists as the name of that particular orbiter. There is, however, speculation that 2K would have received the name “Burya”, continuing the theme of powerful natural phenomena and — together with “Buran”—referencing the names of a pair of 1950s cruise missile projects developed at Myasishchev and Lavochkin.

Orbiter 2K’s airframe was built in the “mid-80s”, which extends its certified 10 year service life into the mid-90s — although NPO Energia documents from 1991 show plans to use 2K into the late 90s, possibly even 2000 and after. The vehicle arrived in Baikonur on 23 March 1988 atop the VM-T Atlant, missing the ODU base block and vertical stabilizer like 1K, but with significantly more silica tiles installed. Due to the program’s secret status until 1987, most of the well-known photos of “Buran’s transport to Baikonur” actually show orbiter 2K, which sports noticeably more silica tiles than 1K at the same stage. ¹² Press enter or click to view image in full size

2K at the Zhukovsky airfield before transportation to Baikonur, 1988. Image: Aviatsionno-Kosmicheskiye Sistemy, 1997. The orbiter’s uncrewed first flight was to include a Mir docking, so it was built with more systems than 1K from the start, including an almost complete cabin with a partially operational life support system. One ejection seat and “several non-ejection seats” were installed, although plans from 1991 only saw flights with two crew in the “conservative” variant and a refit for four crew in the “extended” variant. The payload bay doors were to be ready for full in-space operation; the fuel cells and at least one manipulator arm were installed in the payload bay. To facilitate the docking, the Buran Docking Module (SO) was installed at the front of the payload bay. ²

A 37KB module is also visible on photos of the orbiter during processing, this time mounted further aft than on 1K to balance the center of gravity with the Docking Module and extra equipment at the front of the orbiter. Aviation Week quoted engineers in Baikonur in August 1991 as saying that some cabin equipment weight reduction might be needed to keep the CoG position acceptable, but that it would only be a problem for the first flight and that the installation of the full equipment suite for Flight 2 and after would solve the issue. ¹

Press enter or click to view image in full size Press enter or click to view image in full size Orbiter 2K during preparation for the flight to Baikonur in the EMZ hangar at Zhukovsky (left) and in MIK OK in Baikonur (right). Images: netfilm.ru/Simeon Schmauß; Boris Gubanov via buran.ru. 2K was attached to Energia test article 4M and rolled out to pad 110/37 on 16 May 1991 for two weeks of tests, including fuel cell load tests and orbiter evacuation excercises. The orbiter was still unfinished, with dozens of silica tiles missing. On 30 May the stack was moved back to MIK RN in preparation for testing at the SDI from 7 to 10 June 1991. Then, the stack was rolled back to MIK RN, the orbiter was destacked and moved to the Orbiter Assembly and Test Facility.

Press enter or click to view image in full size Press enter or click to view image in full size Orbiter 2K at pad 110/37. Images: buran.ru; archives of Luc van den Abeelen. By late 1991, the first flight of 2K was planned for 1992 and preparations of Energia 3L for a 10–15 second static fire began. According to Hendrickx and Vis, “there is some evidence” that such test did take place later in 1991. In the early 90s, visitors to Baikonur could catch a glimpse of the orbiter in one of the processing bays in MIK OK.

Press enter or click to view image in full size Press enter or click to view image in full size Left: orbiter 2K in the Orbiter Assembly and Test Facility (MIK OK). Image: Jaap Terweij, 1991. Right: 2K in the MZK hangar in the 2010s. Image: Roscosmos/Globallookpress The orbiter was not mentioned in the June 1992 “Distribution of Ships” document as it was still being prepared for flight, until work on the program stopped in 1993. 2K was estimated to be 95–97% ready when work stopped. In the summer of 1995 2K was moved from the Orbiter Assembly and Test Facility to the MZK building together with the OK-MT test article and remains there to this day. In November 2004, ownership of the orbiter was transferred from RKK Energiya (previously NPO Energia) to Infrakos, a Kazakh State Enterprise tasked with the disposal and sale of scrap metal in Baikonur received by Kazakhstan after the collapse of the USSR. Infrakos then sold orbiter 2K to Russian-Kazakh joint venture Aelita for a share package worth around $10,000. In 2011, Dauren Musa bought out the shares in Aelita and renamed it RSC Baikonur, becoming the de facto owner of 2K. In 2021, after a court case reaffirmed Musa’s ownership, he decided to offer the orbiter to the Russian government in exchange for the skull of Kazakhstan’s last Khan, Kenesary Kasymov. The Russian government maintains that no one knows where the skull is, while Musa won’t accept any other offer.

As late as 2007 both OK-MT and 2K were described as being in relatively good condition as the MZK building provided protection from the elements, but in the last two decades YouTube explorers have made the MZK a hot destination for thrill seekers who enjoy climbing into and onto the orbiters in ways it wasn’t designed for and taking souvenirs and “memorabilia” that can be sold later. Numerous silica tiles around the easily accessible areas such as the landing gear struts and near the hatch have been torn off and put on eBay and a significant portion of the equipment in the cabin has been removed, often by simply unscrewing the panels and hacking away at the cables until the hardware broke loose. Nevertheless, 2K is the best preserved flight article of the Buran program.

Bibliography

“Soviets’ Second Buran Orbiter Undergoes Launch Pad Tests”, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 12 Aug 1991 ↩ ↩²
“The intended use of the 1K11K25 system. Technical report”, RGANTD F213 O2S-1 D309S, 1991 ↩ ↩²