Russia's New Mini Space Shuttle 'Buran' To Be Unmanned Like US X-37B - Source

Daniyal Sohail Published March 25, 2021 | 12:45 PM

A new civilian space shuttle, which is currently under development in Russia, will be an analogue of the United States' unmanned X-37B spacecraft and will be used to deliver cargo to orbit, a space industry source told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2021) A new civilian space shuttle, which is currently under development in Russia, will be an analogue of the United States' unmanned X-37B spacecraft and will be used to deliver cargo to orbit, a space industry source told Sputnik.

On Wednesday, Russia's scientific and production enterprise Molniya, the developer of the legendary reusable spacecraft Buran, said that it is working on a new civilian space shuttle, which is set to go to orbit within the next five years.

"The spacecraft developed by NPO Molniya is an unmanned civilian analogue of the American X-37B [space plane], that is, it will have the same size. It is not intended for manned flights and is being designed for delivery and return of space cargo," the source said.

The spacecraft will be launched atop a Soyuz launch vehicle, the source added.