MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russia needs projects similar to the operational Soviet spaceplane Buran, and the country is currently doing R&D to resolve the issue, Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov said at the Znanie (Knowledge). The First educational marathon.

"Today, we are conducting scientific research of this kind. We’ll see if this work comes to fruition," Borisov said, pointing out that such a project was in demand as only dozens of kilograms of cargo could be returned from orbit at the moment.

According to the Roscosmos CEO, a lack of funds is the biggest problem keeping the shuttle from being built.

Buran is a Soviet shuttle orbiter. On November 15, 1988, it was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome (now in Kazakhstan) with the help of the Energia rocket. It completed two orbits around the Earth before returning to the cosmodrome. The flight was made without any crew on board and lasted 205 minutes. The test spacecraft that made it to outer space was destroyed in 2002 when the roof collapsed at the facility it was being housed.

The federal Znanie (Knowledge). The First educational marathon takes place from April 24-26 at the Moscow Manege exhibition center, as well as on sites in Yekaterinburg, Arkhangelsk, Pyatigorsk and Lugansk.