The US government’s top-secret X-37B space plane returned to Earth after a 434-day mission in orbit. The 29-foot-long spacecraft landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California last Friday (Mar 7) at 2:22 am local time after completing its seventh mission. Cumulatively, it has logged over 4,000 days in space across all missions. It is designed to test advanced technologies, including propulsion systems, thermal protection, and autonomous reentry capabilities. It was last month that the USSF released the first image of the X- 37B while in orbit, taken by a camera onboard the space plane while orbiting high above the African continent. The spacecraft has managed to complete seven missions, with each successive flight extending its time in orbit to more than a year. It will be used to conduct experiments in HEO in 2024, according to the US Space Force. The mission was the first launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket to a Highly Elliptical Orbit.