A US military space drone landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, after nearly two and a half years in orbit, Boeing said. unmanned shuttle X-37BBoeing said in a statement that it made its maiden flight in 2010, has now spent more than 10 years in space and has flown more than 1.3 billion miles during six missions.

“This mission underlines the Space Force’s focus on collaborating in space exploration and expanding affordable access to space for our partners, both within the Air Force Department and beyond,” said General Chance Salzman, head of the Space Operations Division.

The launched X-37B was developed for the Air Force by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It is 30 feet (9 meters) long, has a wingspan of 15 feet, and is powered by solar panels. Before the shuttle’s final launch, in May 2020, the Pentagon proposed a series of scientific experiments the shuttle would perform.

The military said the task is to test how certain materials respond in space, evaluate how ambient radiation in space affects a set of seeds, and convert solar radiation into radioelectric power.