by Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP) -The classified Mini -Space shuttle of the US military returned to Earth on Friday after circulating the world for 434 days.
In December 2023, the space aircraft blew into the orbit of the Kennedy Space Center in NASA in a secret mission. The X-37B vehicle launched by SpaceX did not lead people, only military experiments.
The touchdown in the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California was only announced hours after. Photos showed the white-black room aircraft, which was parked in the dark on the runway.
It is the seventh flight of one of these test vehicles. The officers of the space force said that the mission had successfully demonstrated the ability to change the orbits by using the atmospheric resistance to slow down and saved fuel.
It is “an exciting new chapter in the X-37B program,” said program director Col. Blaine Stewart in a statement.
The reusable room aircraft produced by Boeing launched the market for the first time in 2010. They are 29 meters long with a wing span of 4.5 meters.
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