spacetoday.net: X-37B to return to Earth in June

X-37B to return to Earth in June

Posted: Thu, May 31, 2012, 6:06 AM ET (1006 GMT)
X-37B after OTV-1 landing (USAF)

An experimental military spaceplane in orbit for over a year will land in California in June, the US Air Force announced Wednesday. The second X-37B is set to land on the runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in early to mid June, depending on both technical considerations and the weather, the Air Force said in a brief statement. The X-37B has been in orbit on the OTV-2 mission since its launch in March 2011, far exceeding its previously-announced in-orbit lifetime of 270 days. The Air Force has not disclosed the mission of the vehicle, which has performed a number of maneuvers while in orbit, based on observations by amateur satellite observers. The first X-37B spent 225 days in orbit in 2010.