According to Boeing, the X-37B has a body and landing operation similar to the Space Shuttle, however it is smaller, measuring in at just one-fourth the size of the shuttle. "The X-37B design combines the best of aircraft and spacecraft into an affordable system that is easy to operate and maintain," the description read.

The United States Space Force has unexpectedly published a picture its top-secret X-37B space plane took while orbiting the Earth last year. The image, which the military arm shared on X-formerly-Twitter last week,

We've never before seen the mysterious spacecraft in orbit, and only the U.S. Air Force knows what its doing up there

B, which has been in space since December 2023 as part of its seventh mission, remains shrouded in mystery. The United States has not disclosed the shuttle's true purpose while orbiting, nor what data it collects.