Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago
*I RETURNED! WATCH HERE* ⇢ youtube.com/watch?v=e9H0O-gxJ4Y
Instagram ⇢ instagram.com/chrisluckhardt
In November 1988, the Soviet Union launched the first and only orbital mission of their VKK Space Orbiter programme, commonly known as the Buran programme.
The Buran programme was a direct Soviet response to a perceived military threat by the US space shuttle program. But despite visual similarities and the KGB's ability to acquire unclassified NASA documentation, there were key engineering improvements. The primary difference was that the Buran launched, performed two orbits, and landed autonomously.
But with the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent funding issues, Russia officially cancelled the Buran programme in 1993. The Buran orbital shuttle, the 95% complete Ptichka shuttle, and a full-sized engineering mockup were stored in hangars at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
In 2002, a hangar collapse destroyed the Buran orbiter and tragically killed eight workers. The other shuttles remained in their nearby hangar, undisturbed. Although many people in the space community were aware of the location and fate of the unfinished orbiter and test shuttles, the story of one of humanity's greatest achievements faded into obscurity as the years passed. But that all changed in 2015.
A Russian man succeeded in making the dangerous journey to the derelict hangar and revealed the current status of the shuttles to the world. Upon hearing his story and having wondered about the abandoned shuttles after the Buran collapse, I knew as a space enthusiast and explorer of abandoned places that I had to see them up close.
This is the journey of a lifetime to explore the abandoned Soviet space shuttles. Let's go exploring past the present future.
M U S I C
⇢ Intro Music – "Space Race"
⇢ Outro Music – "Keep Exploring"
⇢ Theme Music – "Past the Present Future"
⇢ All music written, performed, recorded, and engineered by Chris Luckhardt.
A P P E A R I N G
⇢ rantropolis / 然潘
A D D I T I O N A L F O O T A G E
Footage courtesy of Ran Pan, NASA, and Buran.ru.
B I O G R A P H Y
Chris Luckhardt has documented and photographed some of the most iconic and viral images of abandoned places around the world. He was among the first photographers to publish photos in the press from legendary abandoned places like Hashima Island, Nara Dreamland, Michigan Central Station, and Six Flags New Orleans. His body of work has led to collaborations with The White House, Netflix, Ford, GQ China, ABC News, Good Morning America, Scholastic Canada, Yahoo! Japan, and many more. In 2016, the Obama administration invited Chris to photograph a private citizen "haunted" tour of The White House.
#SpaceShuttle #Buran #Baikonur #PastThePresentFuture #ChrisLuckhardt #Abandoned #UrbanExploration
*I RETURNED! WATCH HERE* ⇢ youtube.com/watch?v=e9H0O-gxJ4Y
Instagram ⇢ instagram.com/chrisluckhardt
In November 1988, the Soviet Union launched the first and only orbital mission of their VKK Space Orbiter programme, commonly known as the Buran programme.
The Buran programme was a direct Soviet response to a perceived military threat by the US space shuttle program. But despite visual similarities and the KGB's ability to acquire unclassified NASA documentation, there were key engineering improvements. The primary difference was that the Buran launched, performed two orbits, and landed autonomously.
But with the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent funding issues, Russia officially cancelled the Buran programme in 1993. The Buran orbital shuttle, the 95% complete Ptichka shuttle, and a full-sized engineering mockup were stored in hangars at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
In 2002, a hangar collapse destroyed the Buran orbiter and tragically killed eight workers. The other shuttles remained in their nearby hangar, undisturbed. Although many people in the space community were aware of the location and fate of the unfinished orbiter and test shuttles, the story of one of humanity's greatest achievements faded into obscurity as the years passed. But that all changed in 2015.
A Russian man succeeded in making the dangerous journey to the derelict hangar and revealed the current status of the shuttles to the world. Upon hearing his story and having wondered about the abandoned shuttles after the Buran collapse, I knew as a space enthusiast and explorer of abandoned places that I had to see them up close.
This is the journey of a lifetime to explore the abandoned Soviet space shuttles. Let's go exploring past the present future.
M U S I C
⇢ Intro Music – "Space Race"
⇢ Outro Music – "Keep Exploring"
⇢ Theme Music – "Past the Present Future"
⇢ All music written, performed, recorded, and engineered by Chris Luckhardt.
A P P E A R I N G
⇢ rantropolis / 然潘
A D D I T I O N A L F O O T A G E
Footage courtesy of Ran Pan, NASA, and Buran.ru.
B I O G R A P H Y
Chris Luckhardt has documented and photographed some of the most iconic and viral images of abandoned places around the world. He was among the first photographers to publish photos in the press from legendary abandoned places like Hashima Island, Nara Dreamland, Michigan Central Station, and Six Flags New Orleans. His body of work has led to collaborations with The White House, Netflix, Ford, GQ China, ABC News, Good Morning America, Scholastic Canada, Yahoo! Japan, and many more. In 2016, the Obama administration invited Chris to photograph a private citizen "haunted" tour of The White House.
#SpaceShuttle #Buran #Baikonur #PastThePresentFuture #ChrisLuckhardt #Abandoned #UrbanExploration
