1988 the soviet spacecraft buran a reusable vehicle built in res 11 15
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1988 38 years ago Selected Events November 15 3 sources

The Soviet spacecraft Buran, a reusable vehicle built in response to NASA's Space Shuttle program, was launched, uncrewed, on its only flight.

On November 15, in the year 1988, The Soviet spacecraft Buran, a reusable vehicle built in response to NASA's Space Shuttle program, was launched, uncrewed, on its only flight. This event is recorded as a Selected Events event in the history of November 15, a notable event in this corner of history.

Buran was the first flight orbiter to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran programme. The Buran orbiters were similar in design to the U.S. Space Shuttle. Buran completed one uncrewed spaceflight in 1988, and was destroyed in 2002 when the roof of its storage hangar collapsed at Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Buran orbiters used the expendable Energia rocket, a class of super heavy-lift launch vehicle. Besides describing the first operational Soviet/Russian shuttle orbiter, "Buran" was also the designation for the entire Soviet/Russian spaceplane project and its flight articles, which were known as "Buran-class orbiters".

Key Facts

  • This event took place on November 15, 1988 (AD era).
  • It is categorised as a Selected Events event in recorded history.
  • Referenced in 3 Wikipedia articles.
  • Wikipedia source last updated on 21 October 2026.

On This Date in History

Type Year Date Event
Notable Deaths 2024 Nov 15 Celeste Caeiro, Portuguese pacifist (born 1933)
Notable Deaths 2024 Nov 15 Béla Károlyi, Romanian-American gymnastics coach (born 1942)
Notable Deaths 2024 Nov 15 Jon Kenny, Irish comedian and actor (born 1957)
Notable Deaths 2024 Nov 15 Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, Japanese princess (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2023 Nov 15 Žarko Laušević, Serbian actor (born 1960)
Historical Events 2022 Nov 15 The world population reached eight billion.
Historical Events 2020 Nov 15 Lewis Hamilton wins the Turkish Grand Prix and secures his seventh drivers' title, equalling the all-time record held…
Historical Events 2017 Nov 15 A flood a few miles outside of Athens results in the death of 25 people.
Notable Deaths 2017 Nov 15 Lil Peep, American singer and rapper (born 1996)
Historical Events 2016 Nov 15 Hong Kong's High Court bans elected politicians Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung from the city's Parliament.
Notable Deaths 2016 Nov 15 Mose Allison, American pianist and songwriter (born 1927)
Notable Deaths 2015 Nov 15 Gisèle Prassinos, French author (born 1920)
Notable Deaths 2015 Nov 15 Herbert Scarf, American economist and academic (born 1930)
Notable Deaths 2015 Nov 15 Saeed Jaffrey, Indian-British actor (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2014 Nov 15 Jack Bridger Chalker, English painter and academic (born 1918)
Notable Deaths 2014 Nov 15 Lucien Clergue, French photographer and educator (born 1934)
Notable Deaths 2014 Nov 15 Valéry Mézague, Cameroonian footballer (born 1983)
Notable Deaths 2014 Nov 15 Reg Withers, Australian soldier and politician, Australian Minister for the Capital Territory (born 1924)
Notable Deaths 2013 Nov 15 Sheila Matthews Allen, American actress and producer (born 1929)
Notable Deaths 2013 Nov 15 Glafcos Clerides, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 4th President of Cyprus (born 1919)
Notable Deaths 2013 Nov 15 Mike McCormack, American football player and coach (born 1930)
Historical Events 2012 Nov 15 Xi Jinping becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new seven-member Politburo Standing…
Notable Deaths 2012 Nov 15 Théophile Abega, Cameroonian footballer and politician (born 1954)
Notable Deaths 2012 Nov 15 Luís Carreira, Portuguese motorcycle racer (born 1976)
Notable Deaths 2012 Nov 15 Maleli Kunavore, Fijian rugby player (born 1983)
Notable Deaths 2012 Nov 15 K. C. Pant, Indian politician, 18th Indian Minister of Defence (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2012 Nov 15 Frode Thingnæs, Norwegian trombonist, composer, and conductor (born 1940)
Selected Events 2012 Nov 15 Xi Jinping replaced Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, succeeding as the paramount leader…
Notable Deaths 2011 Nov 15 Oba Chandler, American murderer (born 1946)
Historical Events 2010 Nov 15 A fire in a high-rise apartment building in Shanghai, China kills 58 people.
Notable Deaths 2010 Nov 15 Larry Evans, American chess player and journalist (born 1932)
Notable Deaths 2010 Nov 15 Ed Kirkpatrick, American baseball player (born 1944)
Notable Deaths 2010 Nov 15 William Edwin Self, American actor, director, and producer (born 1921)
Notable Deaths 2009 Nov 15 Serbian Patriarch Pavle II (born 1914)
Notable Deaths 2008 Nov 15 Grace Hartigan, American painter (born 1922)
Historical Events 2007 Nov 15 Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world's largest mangrove…
Notable Deaths 2007 Nov 15 Joe Nuxhall, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1928)
Historical Events 2006 Nov 15 Al Jazeera English launches worldwide.
Notable Deaths 2006 Nov 15 David K. Wyatt, American historian and author (born 1937)
Notable Deaths 2005 Nov 15 Adrian Rogers, American pastor and author (born 1931)
Notable Deaths 2005 Nov 15 Arto Salminen, Finnish journalist and author (born 1959)
Notable Deaths 2004 Nov 15 Elmer L. Andersen, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Minnesota (born 1909)
Notable Deaths 2004 Nov 15 John Morgan, Welsh-Canadian actor and screenwriter (born 1930)
Historical Events 2003 Nov 15 The first day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings, in which two car bombs, targeting two synagogues, explode, kill 25 people…
Notable Deaths 2003 Nov 15 Ray Lewis, Canadian runner (born 1910)
Notable Deaths 2003 Nov 15 Dorothy Loudon, American actress and singer (born 1925)
Notable Deaths 2003 Nov 15 Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (born 1923)
Notable Deaths 2003 Nov 15 Speedy West, American guitarist and producer (born 1924)
Historical Events 2002 Nov 15 Hu Jintao becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and a new nine-member Politburo Standing Committee…
Historical Events 2001 Nov 15 Microsoft launches the Xbox game console in North America.

This article draws on content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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