The US military’s mini space shuttle X-37B returns to Earth after being in orbit for 434 days on a secret mission
This photo, provided by the US Space Force, was successfully landed at Vandenburg Space Force Base, California on March 7, 2025, and successfully completed the US Space Force via the AP, and was blood drawn and landed at Vandenburg Space Force Base, California, and provided by the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-7 (OTV-7).
The US military’s classified mini space shuttle returned to Earth on Friday after 434 days of travelling the world.
The spaceplane was injected into orbit by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in December 2023 on a secret mission. The X-37B vehicle launched by SPACEX not only carried people, but also military experiments.
Pondon’s touchdown at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was not announced until hours after the fact. The photo showed a white and black spaceplane parked on the runway in the darkness.
This is the seventh flight of one of these test vehicles. Space Force officials said the mission has successfully demonstrated its ability to change tracks by slowing down and saving fuel by using atmospheric drag.
This is an “exciting new chapter in the X-37B program.”
This image, provided by the US Space Force on February 21, 2025, shows the onboard camera of the X-37B used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, capturing an image of the Earth while experimenting with HEO in 2024.
First launched in 2010, Boeing’s reusable spacecraft has spent 908 days in space at a time. It is 29 feet (9 meters) long and has a wingspan of almost 15 feet (4.5 meters).
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