The Buran spacecraft was made to be launched on the Soviet Union's super-heavy lift vehicle, Energia.

[8] The lower surface of the Buran orbiter was covered in 38,600 carbon-carbon heat shielding tiles designed to withstand 100 reentries.

The sides of the heat tiles facing the orbiter were left uncoated to equalize the material pressure with the surroundings, preventing additional mechanical loads.

The gaps were filled with quartz fiber, rope, alkaline elements, inserts and brush seals, and the tiles were also waterproofed.

It contained lockers, a galley, sleeping bags, and a toilet, in addition to three instrument bays with radio equipment and thermal control systems.

[14] The docking module (Стыковочный Модуль) designed for Buran would have been mounted into the forward part of the payload bay.

It would be a spherical compartment with a diameter of 2.67 m (8.8 ft), with a cylindrical tunnel leading to the androgynous peripheral docking unit (APAS-89).

Unlike the Space Shuttle, the docking compartment for Buran would feature an extendable tunnel to increase clearance between orbiter and station.

On Buran's maiden flight, the Accessory Unit (Блок Дополнительных Приборов) 37KB No.37070 was installed into the orbiter's payload bay.

[20] The initial design of the orbiter included two Saturn AL-31 jet engines in special nacelles either side of the tailfin, which could be used in the final phase of reentry to modify the approach path.

[21] The first Buran flight was notable for the automatic landing system electing to perform an unlikely (estimated 3% probability) maneuver at the 20 kilometres (66,000 ft) key point, which was needed to extend the glide distance and bleed excessive energy.

'Combined Propulsion System') engines fired automatically to begin the descent into the atmosphere, return to the launch site, and horizontal landing on a runway.

[27] After making an automated approach to Site 251,[4] Buran touched down under its own control at 06:24:42 UTC and came to a stop at 06:25:24,[28] 206 minutes after launch.

[29][30][disputed – discuss] It was the first spaceplane to perform an uncrewed flight, including landing in fully automatic mode.