BOR-4

BOR-4
BOR-4S at MAKS Airshow in Zhukovskiy, 2005
Role Unmanned 1:2 scale re-entry test vehicle
National origin Soviet Union
First flight 5 December 1980
Number built 7


The BOR-4 (БОР-4 Russian: Беспилотный Орбитальный Ракетоплан 4, Bespilotnyi Orbital'nyi Raketoplan 4, "Unpiloted Orbital Rocketplane 4") flight vehicle is a scaled (1:2) prototype of the Soviet Spiral VTHL (vertical takeoff, horizontal landing) spaceplane. An unmanned, subscale spacecraft, its purpose was to test the heatshield tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon for the Buran space shuttle, then under development.[1]

Several of them were built and flown between 1982 and 1984 from the Kapustin Yar launch site at speeds of up to Mach 25. After reentry, they were designed to parachute to an ocean splashdown for recovery by the Soviet Navy. The testing was nearly identical to that carried out by the US Air Force ASSET program in the 1960s, which tested the heatshield design for the X-20 Dyna-Soar. On June 3, 1982 a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion reconnaissance aircraft captured the first Western images of the craft as it was recovered by a Soviet ship near the Cocos Islands.[2]

Flights

Seven BOR were built, and four confirmed flights took place:[3][4]

Current locations[5]

References

  1. ↑ Grayzeck, Edwin.J. "NASA - National Space Science Data Center - Spacecraft - Details: Cosmos 1517". NSSDC Master Catalog. National Aeronautics & Space Administration. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Jim Hodges (June 23, 2011). "They're Trying to Make a Dream Come True". NASA Langley Research Center.
  3. ↑ "BOR Characteristic". Buran-energia.com. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  4. ↑ Pierre Bauduin (1980-12-05). "BOR satellites". Weebau.com. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  5. ↑ "par Nicolas Pillet". Kosmonavtika. Retrieved 2016-02-12.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BOR-4.

Coordinates: 17°00′S 98°00′E / 17.000°S 98.000°E / -17.000; 98.000


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