View source for OK-GLI

{{short description|Buran programme test vehicle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox space shuttle
| name =OK-GLI<br/>BTS-02
| image = OK-GLI Technik Museum Speyer 2008 12.JPG
| image_size = 300px
| caption = Atmospheric Buran testbed currently on display in [[Technik Museum Speyer]]
| country = [[Soviet Union]]
| number = OK-0.02
| first_flight = Flight 1
| first_date = 10 November 1985
| last_flight = Flight 25
| last_date = 15 April 1988
| missions = 25 test flights
| status = At the [[Technik Museum Speyer]], Germany
|}}

The '''OK-GLI''' ({{langx|ru|Орбитальный корабль для горизонтальных лётных испытаний, ОК-ГЛИ|translit=Orbital'nyy korabl' dlya gorizontal'nykh lotnykh ispytaniy|lit=Orbital ship for horizontal flight tests}}), also known as Buran Analog '''BTS-02''' ({{langx|ru|БТС-02, Большой транспортный самолёт второй|translit=bolshoi transportny samolyot vtoroi|lit=big transport aircraft, the second}}), was a  [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] atmospheric [[Flight test|test]] vehicle ("Buran aerodynamic analogue") of the [[orbital spaceflight|orbital]] [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran spacecraft]]. It was constructed for the [[Buran programme]] in 1984, and was used for 25 test flights between 1985 and 1988 before being retired.

The aircraft was subsequently put on exhibit in Australia (2000), Bahrain (2002) and since 2008 has been on exhibit at the [[Technik Museum Speyer]] in Germany.

== Construction ==
The development of the [[Buran programme|Buran]] vehicles by the [[Soviet Union]] began in the late 1970s as a response to the [[Space Shuttle program]] of the United States. The construction of the orbiters began in 1980, and by 1984 the first full-scale Buran was rolled out. The first [[sub-orbital flight|suborbital]] test flight of a scale-model took place as early as July 1983. As the project progressed, five additional scale-model flights were performed.

The OK-GLI (Buran Analog BST-02) test vehicle ("Buran aerodynamic analogue") was constructed in 1984. It was fitted with four [[Saturn AL-31|AL-31]] jet engines mounted at the rear (the fuel tank for the engines occupied a quarter of the cargo bay). This Buran could take off under its own power for flight tests, in contrast to the American ''[[Space Shuttle Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' test vehicle, which was entirely unpowered and relied on an air launch.

The jet engines were used to take off from a normal landing strip, and once it reached a designated point, the engines were shut down and the OK-GLI glided back to land.  This provided valuable test data about the handling characteristics of the Buran design.  The powered-engine approach significantly differed from the carrier plane/air drop method used by the US and the ''Enterprise'' test craft.

== Test flights ==
[[File:00 OK-GLI.png|thumb|Buran flight test Orbiter OK-GLI]]

Until the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|end of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, seven [[cosmonaut]]s were allocated to the Buran programme. All had experience as test pilots and flew on the OK-GLI test vehicle. They were: [[Ivan Ivanovich Bachurin|Ivan Bachurin]], [[Alexei Sergeyevich Borodai|Alexei Borodai]], [[Anatoli Levchenko]], [[Aleksandr Vladimirovich Shchukin|Aleksandr Shchukin]], [[Rimantas Stankevičius]], [[Igor Volk]] and [[Viktor Vasiliyevich Zabolotsky|Viktor Zabolotsky]].{{cn|date=March 2024}}

In total, nine taxi tests and twenty-five test flights of the OK-GLI were performed,<ref name="test">{{cite web |url=http://www.k26.com/buran/Info/Timeline/buran-energia_timeline_history.html |title=Buran Energia Timeline History |publisher=Krzys Kotwicki |access-date=4 August 2006 |archive-date=31 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031075327/http://www.k26.com/buran/Info/Timeline/buran-energia_timeline_history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> after which the vehicle was "worn out". All tests and flights were carried out at the Zhukovsky Air Base, outside Moscow.

{| class="wikitable"
! Date
! Description
! Maximum speed
! Maximum altitude
! Time
! Crew/notes<ref name="crew">{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/burlogue.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020425123248/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/burlogue.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 April 2002 |title=Buran Analogue Chronology |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |access-date=5 August 2006}}</ref>
|-
| 29 December 1984 || Taxi test 1 || 45&nbsp;km/h || || 5 minutes || [[Rimantas Stankevičius]], [[Igor Volk]]
|-
| 2 August 1985 || Taxi test 2 || 200&nbsp;km/h || || 14 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 5 October 1985 || Taxi test 3 || 270&nbsp;km/h || || 12 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 15 October 1985 || Taxi test 4 || 300&nbsp;km/h || || || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 10 November 1985 || Flight 1 || 480&nbsp;km/h || 1500 m || 12 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 15 November 1985 || Taxi test 5 || 170&nbsp;km/h || || 12 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 3 January 1986 || Flight 2 || 520&nbsp;km/h || 3000 m || 36 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 26 April 1986 || Taxi test 6 || || || 14 minutes || [[Anatoli Levchenko]], [[Alexandr Shchukin (cosmonaut)|Alexandr Shchukin]]
|-
| 27 May 1986 || Flight 3 || 540&nbsp;km/h || 4000 m || 23 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 11 June 1986 || Flight 4 || 530&nbsp;km/h || 4000 m || 22 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 20 June 1986 || Flight 5 ||600&nbsp;km/h ||4500 m || 25 minutes || Anatoli Levchenko, Alexandr Shchukin
|-
| 28 June 1986 || Flight 6 ||650&nbsp;km/h ||5000 m || 23 minutes || Anatoli Levchenko, Alexandr Shchukin
|-
| 10 December 1986 || Flight 7 ||700&nbsp;km/h || 4000 m || 24 minutes || First automatic landing Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 23 December 1986 || Flight 8 ||750&nbsp;km/h ||6000 m || 17 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 29 December 1986 || Flight 9 || || || 17 minutes || Anatoli Levchenko, Alexandr Shchukin
|-
| 16 February 1987 || Flight 10 || || || 28 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 25 February 1987 || Flight 11 || || || 19 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 29 March 1987 || Taxi test 7 || || || 2 minutes || Anatoli Levchenko, Alexandr Shchukin
|-
| 30 March 1987 || Taxi test 8 || || || 25 minutes || Anatoli Levchenko, Alexandr Shchukin
|-
| 21 May 1987 || Flight 12 || || || 20 minutes || Anatoli Levchenko, Alexandr Shchukin
|-
| 25 June 1987 || Flight 13 || || || 19 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 5 October 1987 || Flight 14 || || || 21 minutes || Automatic landing Shchukin, Igor Volk
|-
| 15 October 1987 || Flight 15 || || || 19 minutes || [[Ivan Ivanovich Bachurin|Ivan Bachurin]], [[Alexei Sergeyevich Borodai|Alexei Borodai]]
|-
| 16 January 1988 || Flight 16 || || || || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 24 January 1988 || Flight 17 || || || || Ivan Bachurin, Alexei Borodai
|-
| 23 February 1988 || Flight 18 || || || 22 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 4 March 1988 || Flight 19 || || || 32 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 12 March 1988 || Flight 20 || || || || Ivan Bachurin, Alexei Borodai
|-
| 23 March 1988 || Flight 21 || || || || Ivan Bachurin, Alexei Borodai
|-
| 28 March 1988 || Flight 22 || || || || Ivan Bachurin, Alexei Borodai
|-
| 2 April 1988 || Flight 23 || || || 20 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 8 April 1988 || Flight 24 || || || || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 15 April 1988 || Flight 25 || || || 19 minutes || Rimantas Stankevičius, Igor Volk
|-
| 29 December 1989 || Taxi test 9 || || || || Rimantas Stankevičius, [[Viktor Vasiliyevich Zabolotsky|Viktor Zabolotsky]]
|}

== Post-retirement ==

=== Zhukovsky Air Base ===
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal |total_width=350px
 |image1=Orbiter.jpg |caption1=OK-GLI at MAKS-1997
 |image2=Buran3.jpg |caption2=OK-GLI in Sydney
}}

After the program was cancelled, the OK-GLI was stored at [[Gromov Flight Research Institute]], near [[Moscow]], where it was displayed during the annual [[MAKS (air show)|MAKS air show]].

=== Sydney, Australia ===
In 2000, the OK-GLI was sold to an Australian company called the [[Buran Space Corporation]], owned by Australian astronaut [[Paul Scully-Power]]. It was disassembled and transported by ship to [[Sydney]], Australia, via [[Gothenburg]], Sweden;<ref name="transport">{{cite web |url=http://www.procargo.fi/buran.html |title=Transporting the Russian Space shuttle Buran |publisher=ProCargo |access-date=2 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210101748/http://www.procargo.fi/buran.html |archive-date=10 February 2006}}</ref> arriving on 9 February 2000 and appeared as a static tourist attraction under a large temporary structure in [[Darling Harbour]] for a few years.<ref name="australia">{{cite web |url=http://www.suburbia.com.au/~colinc/buran/buran.htm |title=Buran Analogue/002 in Sydney |website=Suburbia.com.au |access-date=2 July 2006}}</ref><ref name="australia_2">{{cite news |url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-021000a.html |title=Russian shuttle lands down under |work=[[collectSPACE]] |first=Robert Z. |last=Pearlman |date=10 February 2000 |access-date=2 July 2006}}</ref>

Upon reassembly, the OK-GLI was put on display in a temporary enclosure for the [[2000 Summer Olympics]] in Sydney. Visitors could walk around and inside the vehicle (a walkway was built along the cargo bay), and plans were in place for a tour of various cities in Australia and Asia. The owners went into bankruptcy after the Olympics, and the vehicle was moved into the open air and stored for a year in a fenced-in parking lot and protected by nothing more than a large tarpaulin, where it suffered deterioration and repeated vandalism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0241.shtml |title=Analog Buran Test Vehicle |website=Aerospaceweb.org |access-date=15 June 2009}}</ref>

The OK-GLI was then offered for sale, including by a radio auction on the American [[KFWB|News 980 KFWB-AM]] with a starting price of {{US$|6 million}},<ref name="shuttle_sale_1">{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/buran_auction_020509.html |title=Russian Shuttle Buran, Slightly Used, Goes Up for Auction Today |work=Space.com |first=Jim |last=Banke |date=9 May 2002 |access-date=3 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115220343/http://space.com/news/spacehistory/buran_auction_020509.html |archive-date=15 November 2006}}</ref> however it did not receive any genuine bids.<ref name="shuttle_sale_2">{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/buran_auction_ends_020523.html |title=Auction Fails to Sell Buran, Russian Shuttle Remains Available |work=Space.com |first=Jim |last=Banke |date=23 May 2002 |access-date=3 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829214834/http://space.com/news/spacehistory/buran_auction_ends_020523.html |archive-date=29 August 2008}}</ref>

=== Bahrain ===
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal |total_width=350px
 |image1=2008-04-09 Raumfähre Buran OK-GLI IMG 9183.jpg |caption1=OK-GLI on the [[Rhine]]
 |image2=OK-GLI Speyer 1.jpg |caption2=OK-GLI at Technik Museum Speyer
}}

In September 2004 a team of German journalists found the OK-GLI in Bahrain, having been abandoned after it was on display as an attraction of the 2002 "Bahrain Summer" festival.<ref name="Buran-energia OK-GLI page">{{cite web |url=http://www.buran-energia.com/bourane-buran/bourane-modele-gli.php |title=Analog shuttle, OK - GLI |website=Buran-energia.com |access-date=28 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="shuttle_found">{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltall/kurioser-fund-sowjet-shuttle-am-persischen-golf-aufgetaucht-a-319316.html |title=Kurioser Fund: Sowjet-Shuttle am Persischen Golf aufgetaucht |trans-title=Strange find: Soviet shuttle found in the Persian Gulf |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |first=Markus |last=Becker |date=22 September 2004 |access-date=5 August 2006}}</ref>

It was then bought by the [[Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum]], to be transported to Germany in 2005.<ref name="german_museum">{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltall/ueberraschender-handel-sinsheimer-museum-kauft-den-sowjet-shuttle-a-319521.html |title=Überraschender Handel: Sinsheimer Museum kauft den Sowjet-Shuttle |trans-title=Surprising trade: Sinsheimer museum buys the Soviet shuttle |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |first=Markus |last=Becker |date=23 September 2004 |access-date=5 August 2006}}</ref> Due to legal issues, it remained in Bahrain for several years, pending settlement of an international court case over fees.<ref name="bahrain legal">{{cite news |url=http://archives.gdnonline.com/NewsDetails.aspx?date=04/07/2015&storyid=185595 |title=Buran case review set |work=[[Gulf Daily News]] |date=19 June 2007 |access-date=16 November 2007}}</ref>

=== Technik Museum Speyer, Germany ===
On 4 March 2008 the OK-GLI began its journey by sea to the [[Technik Museum Speyer]] where it was refurbished and serves as a walk-in exhibit.<ref name="going to Germany">{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/touchdown-at-technical-museum-russian-space-shuttle-navigates-rhine-river-a-545835.html |title=Touchdown at Technical Museum: Russian Space Shuttle Navigates Rhine River |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |agency=Reuters |date=7 April 2008 |access-date=7 April 2008}}</ref>

The journey got off to an inauspicious start when, during the transfer from the storage barge to the ship, there was a failure of the aft spreader (part of the lifting mechanism) and the tail of the vehicle dropped from just above [[Deck (ship)|deck]] height to the bottom of the [[hold (ship)|hold]]. No one was hurt and both the ship and vehicle seemed to suffer only minor damage.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[Buran (spacecraft)]] – Buran spacecraft 1.01
* [[MAKS (spacecraft)]] - Soviet air-launched spaceplane concept
* [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-105]] – Soviet spaceplane test program
* [[Space Shuttle Enterprise]] - American Space Shuttle atmospheric test article
* [[Space Shuttle program]] - American spaceplane program
* [[Tupolev OOS]] - Soviet air-launched spaceplane concept

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=History and Transportation of the Russian Space Shuttle OK-GLI to the Technik Museum Speyer |publisher=Technik Museum Speyer |first1=Heinz |last1=Elser |first2=Margrit |last2=Elser-Haft |first3=Vladim |last3=Lukashevich |date=2008 |isbn=978-3-9809437-7-2}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|OK-GLI}}
* [http://www.buran-energia.com/bourane-buran/bourane-modele-gli.php OK-GLI] at Buran-Energia.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020425123248/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/burlogue.htm Buran Analogue entry] at [[Encyclopedia Astronautica]]
* [http://www.k26.com/buran/Future/OK-GLI/aero_tester_ok-gli__bst-2_.html OK-GLI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720061604/http://www.k26.com/buran/Future/OK-GLI/aero_tester_ok-gli__bst-2_.html |date=20 July 2012 }} at K26.com
* [http://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/spaceshuttle-buran OK-GLI] at Technik Museum Speyer

{{Buran program}}
{{Space Shuttles}}
{{USAF/DoD reporting names}}

[[Category:Buran-class orbiters]]
[[Category:Individual aircraft]]