Orbiter Assembly and Test Facility (MIK OK/MIK 254)

The MIK OK (also designated 11P592) was the biggest facility that had to be built from scratch in support of the Energiya-Buran project. Early plans to use reinforced concrete were abandoned in favor of lighter materials to speed up construction. Sources differ on the exact size of the building, with the width given between 112 and 132 m, length between 222 and 254 m, and height between 30 and 37 m. The actual processing area was surrounded on three sides by a multi-storey prefabricated concrete structure containing 4,800 m of laboratory and office space.

Whereas NASA’s Orbiters are processed in stationary mode in three separate, virtually identical Orbiter Processing Facilities, all Soviet vehicles were processed in one single building, progressively moving from one bay to another to undergo specific processing tasks. The MIK OK housed five bays:

– Transfer bay: this is where Buran arrived first after entering the building through large rolling doors. Having been transported to the MIK OK, the vehicle was transferred here to an internal transportation device, allowing it to be moved from one bay to the other. It was also possible to move the orbiters from one bay to another with the help of a bridge crane.

– Thermal protection system bay (“bay 102’’): a bay specifically equipped to further outfit Buran with tiles after arriving from the factory or to service the thermal protection system in between flights.

– Assembly bay (“bay 103’’): here Buran was fitted with parts that could not be installed in the factory either for technical reasons or because of weight

constraints imposed by the VM-T carrier aircraft. Among other things, the engines, the power supply system, additional life support systems, and various cables were installed here. This bay was also to be used for repair work in between flights, leak checks, and autonomous tests of various systems.

– Control and test bay (“bay 104”): this was used for electrical tests of individual systems and integrated electrical tests, some additional assembly work that could not be performed in the assembly bay, and also for final close-out work.

– Anechoic chamber (“bay 105”): this bay (measuring 60 x 40 x 30 m) was used for individual and integrated tests of the orbiter’s radio systems to make sure that they would not interfere with one another in flight.

The MIK OK would have been capable of supporting a launch rate of up to six missions per year [9].