The Soviets began constructing this spacecraft in response to a 1972 announcement by President Nixon that NASA would try building its own new spacecraft. The shuttle’s first launch attempt came on October 29, 1988 but ended with a mechanical failure.
NPO Molniya was created 1976 to develop the Buran, Russia’s first reusable spacecraft. With less work on Buran in later years, began developing civil aircraft.
All Aero 