View source for BOR-4

{{short description|Soviet spaceplane (1980-1984)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout, and guidelines. -->
{{Infobox aircraft
|name           = BOR-4S
|image          = File:BOR-4S.jpg
|caption        = BOR-4S nº401 at [[MAKS Airshow]] in [[Zhukovskiy (city)|Zhukovskiy]], 2005
|alt            = BOR-4S at [[MAKS Airshow]] in [[Zhukovskiy (city)|Zhukovskiy]], 2005
|type           = Uncrewed 1:2 scale re-entry test vehicle
|national_origin = [[Soviet Union]]
|manufacturer   = [[NPO Molniya]]
|designer       = <!--Only appropriate for single designers, not project leaders-->
|first_flight   = 5 December 1980
|introduction   = <!--Date the aircraft entered or will enter military or revenue service-->
|retired        = <!--Date the aircraft left service. If vague or more than a few dates, skip this -->
|status         = <!--In most cases, redundant; use sparingly-->
|primary_user   = <!-- List only one user; for military aircraft, this is a nation or a service arm. Please DON'T add those tiny flags, as they limit horizontal space. -->
|more_users     = <!-- Limited to THREE (3) 'more users' here (4 total users).  Separate users with <br/>. -->
|produced       = <!--Years in production (eg. 1970-1999) if still in active use but no longer built -->
|number_built   = 7
|program cost   = <!--Total program cost-->
|unit cost      = <!--Incremental or flyaway cost for military or retail price for commercial aircraft-->
|developed_from = <!--The aircraft which formed the basis for this aircraft-->
|variants = <!--Variants OF this aircraft-->
}}
The '''BOR-4''' (''БОР-4'' {{langx|ru|Беспилотный Орбитальный Ракетоплан 4}}, {{lang|ru-Latn|Bespilotnyi Orbital'nyi [[Raketoplan]] 4}}, "Unpiloted Orbital Rocketplane 4") flight vehicle is a scaled (1:2) prototype of the Soviet [[Spiral spaceplane|Spiral]] [[VTHL]] (vertical takeoff, horizontal landing) [[spaceplane]]. An uncrewed, subscale [[spacecraft]],<!-- NOT a spaceplane itself since, as a test vehicle, it could not sustain aviated flight and landed via a parachute splashdown, same as many space capsules --> its purpose was to test the heatshield tiles and reinforced [[carbon-carbon]] for the [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran space shuttle]], then under development.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Grayzeck|first1=Edwin.J.|title=NASA - National Space Science Data Center - Spacecraft - Details: Cosmos 1517|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1983-125A|website=NSSDC Master Catalog|publisher=National Aeronautics & Space Administration|access-date=16 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219171912/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1983-125A |archive-date=19 December 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Several of them were built and flown between 1982 and 1984 from the [[Kapustin Yar]] launch site at speeds of up to Mach 25, using K65-RB5 variant of [[Kosmos-3M]] launch vehicle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=K65-RB5 |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau_det/kosmos-3m-rb5.htm |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en}}</ref> 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 (spaceplane)|ASSET program]] in the 1960s, which tested the heatshield design for the [[X-20 Dyna-Soar]]. On 16 March 1983<ref name="jsd-1987" />{{rp|207}} 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]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/hl20-recognition.html |title=They're Trying to Make a Dream Come True |date=23 June 2011 |first1=Jim |last1=Hodges |work=The Researcher News |publisher=[[NASA Langley Research Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503012603/https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/hl20-recognition.html |archive-date=3 May 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Flights==
Seven BOR were built, and four confirmed flights took place between 1982 and 1984.<ref name="bor-char">{{cite web |last1=Petrovitch |first1=Vassili |title=BOR Characteristic |url=https://www.buran-energia.com/bor/bor-carac.php |website=buran-energia.com |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928134857/https://www.buran-energia.com/bor/bor-carac.php |archive-date=28 September 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="weebau-bor">{{cite web |last1=Bauduin |first1=Pierre |title=Unmanned Orbital Rocket Planes type "BOR" |url=https://weebau.com/satcosmos/bor.htm |website=Weebau Spaceflight Encyclopedia |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116114226/http://weebau.com/satcosmos/bor.htm |archive-date=16 January 2021 |date=3 March 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> All orbital flights were launched using [[Kosmos-3M]] rockets at the [[Kapustin Yar]] launch complex in [[Astrakhan Oblast]], Russia<ref name="astronautix">{{ cite web | title= BOR-4 | url= http://www.astronautix.com/b/bor-4.html | access-date= 30 May 2024 | website= www.astronautix.com | publisher= Encyclopedia Astronautica | author1= Mark Wade }} </ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+'''BOR-4''' test flights<ref name=astronautix/>
! Mission
! Launch date<br>(UTC)
! Landing date<br>(UTC)
! Recovery site
! Orbit
! Duration<br>(in orbit)
! Outcome
|-
! Kosmos 1374
| 3 June 1982<br>21:36
| 3 June 1982<br>23:04
| {{coords|17|S|98|E}}<br>Indian Ocean
| 158 x 204 km
| {{time interval|3 Jun 1982 21:36|3 Jun 1982 23:04|show=dhm|sep=,}}
| {{Success}}<ref name="jsd-1987">{{cite book |editor1-last=Turnill |editor1-first=Reginald |title=Jane's Spaceflight Directory |date=August 1987 |publisher=[[Jane's Information Group]] |isbn=0710608381}}</ref>
|-
! Kosmos 1445
| 15 March 1983<br>22:33
| 16 March 1983<br>00:25
| Indian Ocean
| 158 x 208 km
| {{time interval|15 Mar 1983 22:33|16 Mar 1983 00:25|show=dhm|sep=,}}
| {{Success}}
|-
! Kosmos 1517
| 27 December 1983<br>10:04
| 27 December 1983<br>11:46
| Black Sea
| 212 x 217 km
| {{time interval|27 Dec 1983 10:04|27 Dec 1983 11:46|show=dhm|sep=,}}
| {{Success}}
|-
! Kosmos 1614
| 19 December 1984<br>04:04
| 19 December 1984<br>05:26
| Black Sea
| 174 x 223 km
| {{time interval|4 Dec 1984 04:04|4 Dec 1984 05:26|show=dhm|sep=,}}
| {{Partial failure}}. Spacecraft lost at sea during recovery<ref name=jsd-1987/>
|}
==Current locations==
*BOR-4S nº401 &ndash; [[Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast]], Russia<ref name="bor-locations">{{cite web |title=BOR: Où les voir ? |url=https://www.kosmonavtika.com/vaisseaux/bor/visite/visite.html |website=kosmonavtika |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123141315/http://www.kosmonavtika.com/vaisseaux/bor/visite/visite.html |archive-date=23 January 2021 |language=fr |url-status=live |trans-title=BOR: Where to see them? }}</ref>
*BOR-4  &ndash; [[Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast]], Russia<ref name="bor-locations" />
==See also==
* [[HL-20 Personnel Launch System]]
* [[Dream Chaser]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|BOR-4}}
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [http://www.buran-energia.com/bor/bor-desc.php Detailed page on BORs ]
{{Buran program}}
{{Spaceplanes}}
{{Orbital launches in 1982}}
[[Category:Buran program]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1982]]
{{USSR-spacecraft-stub}}