The X-37B Space Plane of Mystery Returns to Earth After 14-Month Sojourn
Published on: 2025-06-25 00:47:00
Seven times now, an X-37B space plane has traveled to orbit and returned to Earth, each time spending months and months in space. The seventh mission ended March 7, 2025, when the uncrewed, reusable X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-7 landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It had been in orbit for 434 days, or more than 14 months, after leaving Earth's gravity aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in December 2023.
The US Space Force doesn't reveal much about what the X-37B does on its celestial patrols, but it did say that OTV-7 conducted a "novel aerobraking maneuver" to change its orbit using the drag of the Earth's atmosphere while minimizing fuel use, as depicted in the artist's rendering above.
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