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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched NASA’s Sentinel-6B Earth-observing satellite
SpaceX has launched a new Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s Sentinel-6B mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This was Falcon 9’s second Sentinel-6 launch after SpaceX deployed the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite in November 2020.
The mission also comes as the third flight for this Falcon 9 booster, which previously launched two Starlink missions. After stage separation, the booster returned to the landing trajectory on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base. This landing marks the 500th overall reflight of a flight-proven orbital-class rocket.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s Sentinel-6B mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California
Satellite details
Sentinel-6B, an Earth-observing satellite jointly developed by NASA along with U.S. and European partners, will observe Earth’s ocean, capturing sea level measurements. This satellite aims to provide insights to improve weather forecasts and flood predictions, increase public safety, benefit the commercial industry, and protect coastal infrastructure.
Its data will be used to refine atmospheric forecast models used by NASA’s Engineering Safety Center to plan safer reentry of astronauts returning from Artemis missions.
Sentinel-6B will take over as the official reference satellite for global sea level measurements from its twin spacecraft, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which launched in 2020. The two satellites make up the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission, which extends a long line of U.S.-European missions that have monitored sea levels since 1992.
Sentinel-6/Jason-CS is a collaboration between NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding support from the European Commission and technical support on performance from CNES (France’s National Centre for Space Studies).
(source)
