US military's mini space shuttle returns to Earth after orbiting for 434 days on a secret mission

Space Force's Secret Plane Returns After More Than a Year in Orbit

The X-37B is a reusable robotic space plane operated by the US Space Force.

Space Force's X-37B is Back After 14 Secretive Months in Orbit - Universe Today

The U.S. Space Force's X-37B spaceplane (which looks remarkably like a Space Shuttle that someone forgot to put the windows in!) completed its seventh mission this week, touching down at Vandenberg Space Force Base after 434 days in orbit. Although the mission is classified, Space Force officials, said that it followed a highly elliptical orbital path while conducting various tests and experiments. They also described the mission as operating

X-37B unmanned spaceplane lands at Vandenberg SFB after 434 days orbiting Earth

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. – The U.S. Space Force's unmanned spaceplane exited orbit after 434 days and landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base late last week. The X-37B, developed by Boeing, was conducting a range of maneuvers and testing "space domain awareness technology" while orbiting Earth on Mission 7 of the new platform. Mission 7 was the first time that the vehicle was launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket to a highly elliptic…

Technological innovations and aerobraking maneuversGeneral Chance Saltzman, the head of space operations, said that "Mission 7 broke new ground, demonstrating the X-37B's ability to perform tests and experiments in various orbital regimes". One of the remarkable aspects of this mission was the use of aerobraking to reduce altitude, a technique that allows saving fuel by using atmospheric resistance. Unlike conventional satellites, which have thr…

US Space Force's secretive X-37B returns to Earth after 434 days

Mission seven launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy on December 28, 2023, taking off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spaceplane...

The fully autonomous, unmanned X-37B has been circling the Earth since December 2023.