Air Force space plane lands after seven-month test flight

WASHINGTON - An unmanned US Air Force “space plane” has landed following a secretive seven-month test flight, the military said Friday.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle touched down at 1.16 a.m. (0916 GMT) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a statement said.

A rocket carrying the X-37B took off April 22 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission that the Air Force hoped would prove the viability of reusable drone access to space.

The mission was to test the guidance and other systems of the X-37B during the flight. The Air Force did not disclose any payloads that the vehicle carried or what type of experiments were conducted.

The spacecraft has a wingspan of 4.5 metres, is 8.9 metres long and weighs 4,990 kg.

“Today’s landing culminates a successful mission based on close teamwork between the 30th Space Wing, Boeing and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office,” said Lieutenant Colonel Troy Giese, X-37B programme manager. “We are very pleased that the programme completed all the on-orbit objectives for the first mission.”

Another of the space planes is to be tested in 2011.

The vehicle is designed to remain in low orbit for up to 270 days. Built by Boeing’s secretive Phantom Works division, the plane is powered by batteries and solar cells.

The X-37 programme began in 1999 under NASA’s guidance before being transferred in 2004 to the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), before winding up in the hands of the Air Force.

The secretive nature of the project has led to speculation about its role in the military - some say it can be used to spy on communications or to deploy small satellites. Some have expressed concerns it could mark the beginning of the weaponization of space - a notion the Air Force flatly rejects.

Officials did not reveal the cost of the programme.