Secret US spaceplane Boeing X-37B returns to Earth after 908 days and finally shares first declassified photo
- The Boeing X-37B is one of the most sophisticated spacecraft in the world
- So far, it has covered over 1.2 billion miles in orbit
- The US Space Force finally shared the first declassified picture taken from the spacecraft
Published on Feb 26, 2025 at 3:56 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Feb 26, 2025 at 5:59 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
The US Space Force (USSF) has just shared its first declassified photo taken from the Boeing X-37B.
The X-37B is a military spacecraft designed for longer missions in space, also due to its incredible payload capacity.
After spending 908 days in orbit, we finally got to see the first photograph taken as part of the mission.
It was worth the wait.
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The first declassified photograph taken aboard the Boeing X-37B
Boeing teamed up with SpaceX to launch the X-37B into space atop a Falcon rocket.
The space agency chose to launch the aircraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral on December 28, 2023.
The X-37B can stay in orbit for more than two years in one go, and it has so far clocked over 10 years and 1.3 billion miles in space.
Details about its mission are kept under wraps, but The Pentagon did mention that the latest mission would include tests of ‘new orbital regimes, experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies’.
In addition, NASA also assigned another experiment to the X-37B regarding a study of the effect of prolonged radiation on plant seeds in space.
The first declassified photograph (above) taken from the spacecraft, and it shows both a section of the spacecraft’s body, and Earth as seen from orbit.
It was worth the wait, wasn’t it?
The new Space Race
The ‘Space Race’ is back in full swing after what feels like a lifetime.
Over the past 24 months alone, we’ve seen the CNSA (Nasa’s equivalent in China) share new footage of its lunar base and India reach the south pole of the Moon, which is something no country had ever done before.
After that, the CNSA announced a program that’s essentially China’s answer to NASA’s Artemis program (in collaboration with SpaceX).
The ultimate goal was to build a permanent Moon base.
They called it the ILRS (International Lunar Research Station) and it was jointly announced by China and Russia in 2021.
Since then, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela have also joined the initiative.
During the first Space Race in the 1960s, it was essentially a battle between the United States and the USSR.
Now, there are a lot more players involved.
