Space shuttle lands after record-breaking two-year orbit

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Space shuttle lands after record-breaking two-year orbit

By Lynnette Cantos

Orlando: A United States Air Force space shuttle landed at Kennedy Space Centre early on Sunday morning after spending a record-breaking 780 days in space.

The covert orbital test mini-shuttle, named X-37B, arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre's Shuttle Landing Facility at 3.51am on Sunday after being in orbit for two years since its initial launch on September 7, 2017.

This June 2009 photo provided by the U.S. Air Force via NASA shows the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

This June 2009 photo provided by the U.S. Air Force via NASA shows the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA

"The safe return of this spacecraft, after breaking its own endurance record, is the result of the innovative partnership between government and industry," said Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein in a press release. "The sky is no longer the limit for the Air Force and, if Congress approves, the US Space Force."

This was the second time the X-37B shuttle landed at the Kennedy Space Centre, as the fourth mission landed after 718 days in orbit on May 7, 2017.

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X-37B is the Air Force's reusable and unmanned spacecraft that has taken multiple classified missions to recover experiments and has been tested in a long-duration space environment.

The sixth mission for X-37B is prepared to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for 2020.

TNS

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