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The U.S. government ’s secretive X-37B space aeroplane has returned to Earth after a 434 - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. commission in orbit , accord to astatementfrom the U.S. Space Force .
Although the details of the orphic uncrewed spacecraft’smore - than - yearlong missionremain for the most part classified , the Space Force is touting the recent flight as the start of an " exciting new chapter " in the X-37B program .
The U.S. Space Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Mission Seven successfully landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 7, 2025.
" commission 7 bump raw ground by showcasing the X-37B ’s power to flexibly carry through its test and experiment aim across orbital regime , " Chief of Space OperationsGen . Chance Saltzmansaid in the Space Force financial statement .
In special , the Space Force note the place airplane ’s successful completion of severalaerobraking maneuver — a method of apply atmospheric drag to lower the planer ’s orbit while use minimal amount of fuel .
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Typically , satellites must use built - in thrusters to interchange their altitude . By aerobraking , the blank space planing machine instead vary the slant of its nose relative to its orbital direction , thus exposing more of its broad underbelly to the atmosphere . This , in turn , generates retarding force on the plane , step by step slowing it down and lowering its altitude over the course of multiple laissez passer around the planet .
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The X-37B launched on Mission 7 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Dec. 29 , 2023 , taunt aSpaceXFalcon Heavy Eruca sativa into a extremely elliptical range around Earth . During the mission , the autonomous infinite plane also carry out various experiments relate to blank space irradiation and " space sphere awareness engineering , " which presumably refers to notice various objects in orbit , according to the statement . Space Force representatives did not elaborate on what these experiments implicate . The plane returned to Vandenberg in the wickedness of night on March 7 , 2025 .
Built by Boeing , the X-37B blank space sheet began as aNASAproject before being handed over to the U.S. military in 2004 , according toThe Aviationist . The commission ’s primary finish is to advance reclaimable ballistic capsule engineering , with the craft launch vertically on a arugula , pass months or years in orbit to conduct experiments , and then landing again like a distinctive airplane . Its longest stint in space so far lasted 909 days , between May 2020 and November 2022 . Its short flight , in 2010 , lasted 224 days .
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