LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- NASA launched a new satellite mission into low Earth orbit on Sunday to study the atmospheres of exoplanets and their host stars.

The mission, codenamed Pandora, lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 5:44 a.m. Pacific Time from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the U.S. state of California on Sunday.

Pandora will examine at least 20 exoplanets along with their host stars.

The satellite will conduct long, continuous observations as the planets orbit their respective stars, simultaneously collecting visible and near-infrared light. This data will help researchers distinguish between signals originating from the planets and those from the stars, according to NASA.

Pandora's observations are expected to determine whether a planet's atmosphere contains hazes, clouds or water, or whether apparent signals of these substances actually arise from the star, NASA said. ■