It’s a ✈️… It’s a 🚀… It’s the X-37B!

America’s space plane has landed after more than a year in orbit.

The Space Force’s X-37B touched down like a conventional airplane at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, 434 days after launching on a rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The uncrewed vehicle completed a number of experiments on its voyage, including using the drag of the Earth’s atmosphere to slow down. The maneuver, known as aerobraking, is considered a pioneering innovation.

Although a plane spending more than a year in space may seem long, this mission was less than half the length of the returnable X-37B’s longest – more than 900 days.