Photos: Delta 4 lights up the sky for night owl launch

Officials from NASA, research institutions and companies involved in the development and launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite briefed reporters in the mission Sunday, the day before its scheduled liftoff from Cape Canaveral.

A robotic space shuttle with stubby wings, tail fins, its belly covered with black thermal tiles, clam-shell doors that swing open to reveal a payload bay and a solar array for ultralong-duration missions rode into orbit Wednesday on the fourth mission of the Air Force’s reusable X-37B spaceplane project.

After a nine-month hiatus caused by bankruptcy, the deployment of OneWeb’s broadband network will resume Friday with the launch of the company’s next 36 satellites on a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.