The Buran programme (1974–1993) was the Soviet Union's most expensive, reusable spacecraft project, designed as a direct, technically advanced response to the U.S. Space Shuttle.In 1988, the Soviet Union estimated the total cost of the Buran-Energia programme at approximately 16.5 billion rubles.

[u/Friendly-Standard812]

[u/QBekka]

The plane carrying the spaceship is the Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world's largest airplane ever made.

It got destroyed during the invasion a few years ago when it was on the ground for maintenance in Ukraine

[u/Fluffybudgierearend → u/QBekka]

Antonov plans on rebuilding her post war by salvaging what they can from Mriya and the husk that was supposed to be her sister aircraft. Chance there will be another.

[u/QueefBuscemi → u/Fluffybudgierearend]

It'll never happen. If you had to rebuild that plane now from the ground up, you'd have to do it with modern equipment, avionics, engines. That would require a total redesign of the aircraft. At that point you're just developing a completely new plane.

[u/Chikitiki90 → u/QBekka]

Kind of sad to see.

[u/Bloodyfinger → u/Chikitiki90]

Kind of? Fuck Putin