The Energiya was a super-heavy launch system that was developed in the СССР (USSR) in the late 1980's and sucessfully launched in 1988. It was capable of delivering about 100 tons of payload to LEO (low earth orbit) and about 20 tons to GSO (geostationary orbit). What is interesting about the Energiya is that it carried its payload on the side instead of in the nose cone. Its primary payload was the Buran shuttle, which can be seen attached to the Energiya in some pictures on this page.
I purchased and built the Energiya Buran kit in 2021. If you are interested in details about the kit, see the review page.
More pictures of the assembled kit follow below. Clicking on the pictures will display larger versions.
Unlike the Space Shuttle, the Buran had only an OMS (orbital maneuvering system), but no engines that contributed thrust during launch. All thrust during launch would be delivered by the Energiya launch vehicle. Therefore, the Buran had a larger cargo bay than the Space Shuttle and could carry a bigger payload.
