The Air Force's secretive X-37B spaceplane just set a new orbit record. Why? That's top secret.

The Air Force X-37B spaceplane
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Videos From Space)

Next week, the Air Force's unmanned X-37B spaceplane will complete two years in orbit, assuming it doesn't land before then. On Monday, it set a new mission record of 718 days in orbit, surpassing the in-space voyages of its four predecessors. It's likely return date — like almost everything else about the X-37B — is shrouded in mystery. Air Force spokesman Major William Russell tells CNN that there is no scheduled end to the mission, and the spaceplane will land back on Earth only after its objectives have been completed. What objectives? That's classified.

Because the X-37B missions are secret, the Air Force "tends to speak of the vehicle and its activities in general terms," Space.com notes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.