Photos: Delta 4 launches on secret NROL-45 mission

Two small Chinese satellites designed to detect gamma-ray bursts associated with gravitational waves launched Wednesday on a Long March 11 rocket, beginning an astrophysics research mission to study black holes and neutron stars.

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.

NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M, a communications router for the space station and dozens of science spacecraft, blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 8:29 a.m. EDT on Friday atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.