{"id":69534,"date":"2025-03-07T18:08:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T18:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/03\/07\/us-militarys-mini-space-shuttle-returns-to-earth-after-secret-mission\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:17:11","slug":"us-militarys-mini-space-shuttle-returns-to-earth-after-secret-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2025\/03\/07\/us-militarys-mini-space-shuttle-returns-to-earth-after-secret-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"US military\u2019s mini space shuttle returns to Earth after secret mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. \u2014 The U.S. military\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2024\/10\/10\/secret-x-37b-spaceplane-maneuvers-could-impact-future-space-operations\/\" target=\"_blank\">classified mini space shuttle<\/a> returned to Earth on Friday after circling the world for 434 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/battlefield-tech\/space\/2023\/12\/29\/us-space-force-sends-x-37b-craft-on-another-secretive-mission\/\" target=\"_blank\">space plane<\/a> blasted into orbit from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in December 2023 on a secret mission. Launched by SpaceX, the X-37B vehicle carried no people, just military experiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its predawn touchdown at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was not announced until hours after the fact. Photos showed the white-and-black space plane parked on the runway in darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s the seventh flight of one of these test vehicles. Space Force officials said the mission successfully demonstrated the ability to change orbits by using atmospheric drag to slow down, saving fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s \u201can exciting new chapter in the X-37B program,\u201d program director Lt. Col. Blaine Stewart said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First launched in 2010, the Boeing-made, reusable space planes have spent as long as 908 days in space at a time. They\u2019re 29 feet long with a wingspan of almost 15 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Space Force&#8217;s unmanned X-37B blasted into orbit from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in December 2023 on a secret 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