The US Air Force's mini space shuttle, the X-37B, successfully landed October 17th at Vandenberg Air Force Base after spending an incredible 675 days in orbit since it's launch on December 11th 2012. <br /> <br />Whilst it is unknown what the X-37B does in orbit, this was the 3rd flight overall and the the first to reuse a frame, with this flight using the shuttle that flew the OTV-1 mission in 2010 which lasted 224 days. <br /> <br />The second flight which launched March 5th 2011 using a new spacecraft lasted 469 days after touching down at Vandenberg Air Force Base June 2012. <br /> <br />It is rumoured these space planes could be used to test communications, next generation spy sat technology, intelligence gathering or even deploying further payloads into orbit from the payload bay of the X-37B.
