Mysterious US Air Force ‘space plane’ lands after record-breaking 780-day mission

US Force X-37B space plane has touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center almost two years after Falcon 9 rocket launched it, smashing its own record for the longest time in space as its mission remains veiled in secrecy.

The unpiloted plane, that looks akin a miniature space shuttle, came back to Earth on Sunday, wrapping up its 780-day-long stint in orbit. Originally built to spend up to 240 days in space, the top secret aircraft has so far conducted five missions, each spanning longer than the previous one.

This time was not an exception, as the X-37B surpassed the previous record, set on May 7 ,2017, by 62 days.

The mysterious plane, with its exact objectives of its missions being subject to speculation, landed at Shuttle Landing Facility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 0751 GMT, the Air Force said in a statement.

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