The United States Air Force’s experimental X-37B unmanned spaceplane returned to Earth on May 7, 2017, after a record-breaking 718-day stay in orbit: However, little is publicly known about the craft’s secret mission.

Initially created by NASA in 1999, the Boeing-built X-37 was transferred to DARPA in 2004, of whom placed the project under its current classified status. The USAF announced that they would develop their own X-37 in 2006, now designated X-37B; originally intended to be launched by NASA’s Space Shuttle Orbiter, it is now launched on the tip of an Atlas V rocket.
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