With a thunderous sonic boom, the U.S. military’s secretive X-37B spaceplane returned to Earth early Friday, March 7, touching down at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 2:22 a.m. EST (0722 UTC). The uncrewed spacecraft’s landing marked its first return to the West Coast since 2014, concluding a 434-day mission.
The X-37B on the runway at Vandenberg Space Force Base following its landing there on March 7, 2025. Credit : U.S. Space Force.
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), a project shrouded in secrecy, launched on its seventh mission aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on December 29, 2023. Dubbed USSF-52, the mission's objectives, like those of previous flights, were largely undisclosed.
A Shorter, Yet Groundbreaking Mission
Unlike its recent record-setting predecessors, this mission had a comparatively shorter duration. Prior to its return, experts speculated about its orbital path. On February 9, 2024, astrophysicist and orbital tracker Jonathan McDowell reported that the spaceplane was in a highly elliptical orbit ranging from 323 kilometers to 38,838 kilometers at a 59.1-degree inclination.
The U.S. Air Force later confirmed that the X-37B was testing advanced maneuvering techniques, specifically aerobraking—a method of using atmospheric drag to adjust orbit. Boeing, which builds the spaceplane, cited improvements in collision avoidance, fault protection, and autonomous systems as key enablers of these new capabilities.
“This novel and efficient series of maneuvers demonstrates the Space Force’s commitment to achieving ground-breaking innovation as it conducts national security missions in space,” then-Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall stated.
A Rare Glimpse from Space
In a rare public release, the U.S. Space Force shared an image captured by the X-37B while it was in orbit. Metadata indicated the photo was taken on February 20, 2025—the same day it was made public. This marked the first time an official image from the spaceplane was disclosed during a
mission.
Credit: U.S. Space Force
Looking Ahead: What’s Next for the X-37B Program?
The OTV-7 mission was the second shortest in the X-37B program’s history, with only the first mission in 2010 being shorter at 224 days. Since then, each flight has progressively extended in duration, culminating in the OTV-6 mission’s record-breaking 909-day flight.
While the U.S. Space Force has not officially announced when the X-37B will launch next, historical patterns suggest that OTV-8 could lift off before the end of 2025. With intervals between missions ranging from three to thirteen months, the wait for the next chapter in the X-37B’s secretive space operations may not be long.
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