The US military's secret mini space shuttle X-37B returned to Earth in March 434 after a successful 2025-day world tour. The space plane was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on a secret mission in December 2023. Sent into orbit by SpaceX, the X-37B performed only military experiments and technological tests without carrying any people.
Its landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was announced hours after the incident. Photos showed the white-and-black spaceplane parked on a runway in the dark. This was the X-37B’s seventh flight, and Space Force officials said the mission successfully demonstrated the ability to use atmospheric friction to slow down and change orbits to save fuel.
The X-37B is a reusable spacecraft manufactured by Boeing and was first launched in 2010. This vehicle, which is 29 feet long and has a wingspan of approximately 15 feet, has the capacity to stay in space for up to 908 days. These features allow the vehicle to be used for long-duration missions.
“This mission marks an exciting new chapter in the X-37B program,” said program director Lt. Col. Blaine Stewart. “The success of the X-37B is a significant step in cementing U.S. leadership in military and scientific space testing. Future missions will see such spacecraft perform more complex experiments and enable longer-duration operations in space.”
