Announced with the thunder of a sonic boom, the secretive U.S. military X-37B spaceplane made its return from orbit early Friday at 2:22am EST (0722 UTC). The uncrewed spacecraft touched down on a runway at Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking its first West Coast return since its third flight ended in October 2014.

Known formally as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), this seventh flight for the program began with a Falcon Heavy launch on Dec. 29, 2023, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Its return to Earth closes out a 434-day mission.