US military’s shuttle returns after orbiting for 434 days on secret mission

This photograph supplied by the US Space Force reveals the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-7 parked at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, March 7, 2025.
| Photo Credit: USAF/AP

The U.S. military’s categorized mini area shuttle returned to the earth on March 7 after circling the world for 434 days.

The area aircraft blasted into orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in December 2023 on a secret mission. Launched by SpaceX, the X-37B automobile carried no folks, simply navy experiments.

Its predawn landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was not introduced till hours after the very fact. Photos confirmed the white-and-black area aircraft parked on the runway in darkness.

It’s the seventh flight of one among these take a look at autos. Space Force officers stated the mission efficiently demonstrated the flexibility to vary orbits through the use of atmospheric drag to decelerate, saving gasoline.

It’s “an exciting new chapter in the X-37B program,” program director Lt. Col. Blaine Stewart stated in a press release.

First launched in 2010, the Boeing-made, reusable area planes have spent so long as 908 days in area at a time. They’re 9 metres lengthy with a wingspan of just about 4.5 metres.