US EditionUS military's mini space shuttle returns to Earth after orbiting for 434 days on a secret mission
- The U.S. military's classified mini space shuttle, X-37B, returned to Earth on March 7, 2025, after orbiting for 434 days on a secret mission.
- The X-37B carried military experiments and successfully demonstrated orbit changes using atmospheric drag.
- Program director Lt. Blaine Stewart stated it is 'an exciting new chapter in the X-37B program.'
- The reuseable spaceplane has previously spent up to 908 days in space.
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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…
The fully autonomous, unmanned X-37B has been circling the Earth since December 2023.
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