The Soviet Buran shuttle flew exactly once, in November 1988, completing two unmanned orbits and landing itself in a crosswind on a Kazakh runway with such precision that engineers found it stopped within 3 metres of the centreline — and then the program was cancelled and the orbiter was crushed 14 years later when its hangar roof collapsed.

In November 1988, the Soviet Buran shuttle launched from Baikonur, orbited Earth twice, and landed itself in a crosswind snowstorm with no crew aboard. It never flew again. Fourteen years later a collapsing hangar roof crushed the only spacecraft that had ever completed a fully automated orbital mission. The post The Soviet Buran shuttle flew exactly once, in November 1988, completing two unmanned orbits and landing itself in a crosswind on a Kazakh runway with such precision that engineers foun