Top-secret X-37B space plane returns to Earth in dead of night after mysterious 434-day mission, US military reveals

A head-on photograph of the X-37B space plane on a runway at night.

The U.S. government's secretive X-37B space plane has returned to Earth after a 434-day mission in orbit, according to a statement from the U.S. Space Force.

Although the details of the mysterious uncrewed spacecraft's more-than-yearlong mission remain largely classified, the Space Force is touting the recent flight as the start of an "exciting new chapter" in the X-37B program.