BOEING SPACE PLANE LANDS AFTER 2 YEARS IN ORBIT

Mysterious USAF Test Vehicle Returns to Earth

The United States Air Force’s (USAF) unmanned X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle touched down in California, U.S at 9.24 a.m on October 17th after spending nearly two years in orbit. This is the third mission for the X-37B series, which to date has racked up 1,367 days in orbit. The exact purpose of the Boeing designed space vehicle is still a mystery, although Boeing itself says the X-37B program is purely to demonstrate the potential of a reusable, unmanned space platform. Some commentators believe the space vehicle is testing advanced, secret intelligence-gathering systems, but no official confirmation of this has been given. Whatever it is doing in space, the test vehicle seems a step above any of the UAV’s currently appearing on our skylines.