jeff findley wrote:
[...]

It could very well be that one of Buran's military requirements was
the ability to capture and return US shuttle deployed satellites.
This would account for the copied locations of payload bay to payload
structural interfaces.

Which would have helped with Shuttle-launched satellites, perhaps,
although each of those seems to require an additional specialized
fixture, but ELV-laucnhed satellites would have been just as much pain
to fit in as ever....

/dps