❝ The Air Force’s secretive space plane returns after more than two years : The space plane spent 779 days, 17 hours in space…

❝ As ever, the biggest question surrounding the Air Force’s space plane concerned what it was up to during its long flight in low-Earth orbit. “The spaceplane conducted on-orbit experiments,” an Air Force news release stated, blandly. “The distinctive ability to test new systems in space and return them to Earth is unique to the X-37B program and enables the US to more efficiently and effectively develop space capabilities necessary to maintain superiority in the space domain.”

Sam Gilbey