Top-secret spacecraft lands back on Earth after 434 days in orbit as officials share statement

X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle safely landed at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, yesterday (March 7)

Space Force’s super secret aircraft has successfully made it back to Earth.

The Boeing-made X-37B spacecraft has garnered attention of late after US Space Force gave space fans a rare glimpse into what its been up to on its recent mission.

X-37B is been on seven missions over the past 15 years, with its most recent one starting in 2023.

Over the course of its seven missions, the Earth’s been orbited by X-37B for more than 4,000 days.

In a rare update issued last month, Space Force posted a photo of our planet seen from X-37B in space.

An X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in HEO in 2024.The X-37B executed a series of first-of-kind maneuvers, called aerobraking, to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel.

“An X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in HEO [Highly Elliptical Orbit] in 2024,” the post shared to Twitter read.

And now the test vehicle has safely made it home and landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, yesterday (March 7), after being in orbit for 434 days.

During its time in space, the aircraft ‘accomplished a range of test and experimentation objectives intended to demonstrate the X-37B’s robust maneuver capability while helping characterize the space domain through the testing of space domain awareness technology experiments’, said the government body.

The top-secret spacecraft has now returned to earth (US Space Force)

Speaking about the success of its seventh mission in light of the aircraft’s return, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, said in a press release: “Mission 7 broke new ground by showcasing the X-37B’s ability to flexibly accomplish its test and experimentation objectives across orbital regimes.

“The successful execution of the aerobraking maneuver underscores the U.S. Space Force’s commitment to pushing the bounds of novel space operations in a safe and responsible manner.”

Elsewhere, the mission was dubbed as an ‘incredibly important milestone’.

An artist impression of the aircraft performing the aerobraking manoeuvre (Boeing Space)

Explaining why it was such a big moment for the US Space Force, it comes down to the test vehicle trying out an aerobraking maneuver.

“The use of the aerobraking maneuver — a series of passes using the drag of Earth’s atmosphere — enables the spacecraft to change orbits while expending minimal fuel,” Space Force’s website states.

And X-37B successfully performed the maneuver in question.

Speaking ahead of Missino 7 drawing to a close, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said that the ‘novel and efficient series of maneuvers demonstrates the Space Force’s commitment to achieving groundbreaking innovation as it conducts national security missions in space’.

The attempt at doing the maneuver was the first time that X-37B had tried to carry it out.