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Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich/Jason CS

Sentinel-6

Designed to measure the height of the ocean - a key component to understanding how Earth's climate is changing - Sentinel-6/Jason CS consists of two identical satellites that will be launched five years apart.

Sentinel-6 Foreground

Mission Statistics

Time in Orbit

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Launch Date

Nov 02, 2020

Type

Orbiter

Target

Earth

Status

Current

About the mission

Designed to measure the height of the ocean - a key component to understanding how Earth's climate is changing - Sentinel-6/Jason CS consists of two identical satellites that will be launched five years apart. The staggered launches will help to ensure the continuation of a decades-long record of sea level observations out to 2030.

A secondary objective of the mission will be to measure temperature and humidity in the troposphere, the atmospheric layer in which we live. The satellites will also look at the stratosphere, the layer right above the troposphere. An instrument on board the satellites uses the Global Navigation Satellite System Radio-Occultation sounding technique, which analyses changes in signals from international global navigation system satellites to determine atmospheric temperature and humidity.

NASA is developing the mission with the European Space Agency, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The European Commission is providing funding support. France's space agency, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, is also supporting the mission.

Instruments

  • Poseidon-4 SAR Radar Altimeter
  • Advanced microwave radiometer for Climate (AMR-C)
  • Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO)
  • Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS)
  • Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA)

Mission Highlights

Nov 21, 2020

Launch

Sentinel-6 launched November 21, 2020, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Target: Earth
Sentinel-6
NASA Website
ESA Website

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