X-37B

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Military Spacecraft Departs for Another Secret Mission

X-37B's missions can last years

(Newser) - Another US military mini shuttle blasted off Thursday night to conduct classified experiments in space. Launched by SpaceX, the uncrewed space plane took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It's the eighth such flight for the test vehicles known as X-37B, the AP reports. This one will test laser communications...

Military Space Plane Blasts Off on Secretive Mission

X-37B could be in space for years

(Newser) - The US military's X-37B space plane blasted off Thursday on another secretive mission that's expected to last at least a couple of years. Like previous missions, the reusable plane resembling a mini space shuttle carried classified experiments. There's no one on board. The space plane took off...

Secretive Space Plane Left in 2017, Just Returned

Air Force's X-37B spent 780 days aloft

(Newser) - The Air Force's mystery space plane is back on Earth, following a record-breaking two-year mission. The X-37B landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Sunday, per the AP . The Air Force is mum about what the unmanned plane did in orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket...

Mysterious Space Plane on Mysterious Mission Has Been in Orbit 720 Days

X-37B breaks its own spaceflight duration record

(Newser) - The military space plane X-37B has been in orbit since Sept. 7, 2017—and this week, the uncrewed, solar-powered plane broke its own record for spaceflight duration. At 6:43am Eastern time Monday, X-37B's current mission had officially lasted longer than the previous one, Orbital Test Vehicle 4 (OTV-4),...

Plane Ends 2 Secretive Years in Space

Air Force's X-37B space plane touched down Sunday in Florida

(Newser) - The Air Force owns two X-37B space planes, and one of them is finally back on the ground after a nearly 2-year-long secret mission. While the what is unknown, the how long is clear: 718 days in orbit, reports Space.com , with the unmanned plane landing Sunday morning at NASA'...

US Spaceplane Back After Secret 2-Year Mission

NASA still mum on what the X-37B is up to

(Newser) - A US spaceplane returned safe and sound yesterday after a two-year mission somewhere up there, reports Space.com . And what the unmanned X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle was doing for all that time is, as they say, classified. The shuttle-like craft came in without a hitch at Vandenberg Air Force Base...

Spy Plane Ending Its 2 Secretive Years in Space

Air Force's X-37B to complete 3rd secret mission today

(Newser) - Some 673 days after it was launched into space for a secret mission , the Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane is set to return to Earth today—and there's still no word on what it was doing up there. Some rumors say that the robotic mini-space shuttle was...

Air Force's Secret Robot Space Plane Blasts Off

For an unknown mission

(Newser) - Who says America doesn't have a space program anymore? Sure the shuttle's gone, but the military is keeping the dream alive—and classified. The Air Force today launched its top-secret unmanned space shuttle alternative into orbit on a mysterious mission, the AP reports. The vessel, dubbed the X-37B,...

Air Force Spacecraft Ends 15-Month Secret Mission

X37-B space plane lands itself at military base

(Newser) - An American spacecraft landed itself at a military base in California on the weekend, ending a 15-month mission—but don't expect to hear much about what the unmanned plane was doing up there. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is an Air Force plane and while the military says the...

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