The satellite, recently launched by NASA and its partners, is about the size of a full-size pickup truck and will provide ocean and atmospheric information to improve hurricane forecasts, protect infrastructure and benefit commercial activities such as shipping.
The Sentinel-6B satellite lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 4 Vostok at Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California at 9:21 p.m. PT on November 16. Contact between the satellite and a ground station in northern Canada occurred approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes later at 22:54. All systems are functioning normally.
“Understanding tidal patterns down to the inch is critical to protecting how we use our oceans on Earth every day,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Sentinel-6B will build on the legacy of Michael Freilich's Sentinel-6 by providing sea level measurements that will improve forecasts used by communities, businesses and operations across the country. It will also facilitate safer re-entry for our astronauts returning home, including the crew of the Artemis Moon missions.”
Sea levels vary from place to place, and the satellite will provide precise measurements both locally and globally—all from hundreds of miles above low Earth orbit. These observations form the basis for U.S. flood forecasts, which are critical to protecting coastal infrastructure, real estate, energy storage facilities and other coastal assets. Sentinel-6B will replace Michael Freilich's Sentinel-6, which was launched in 2020 and later became the official reference satellite for global sea level measurements, providing sea surface elevation measurements to which data from other satellites is compared for accuracy.
The satellite is a collaboration between several partners, including NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is also part of the European Union's Copernicus mission family.
“Collaboration between partners is key to a mission like Sentinel-6, and I thank everyone involved in the development, launch and operation of this exceptional satellite, which follows in the footsteps of Michael Freilich’s first Sentinel-6,” said Simonetta Celi, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes. “This achievement demonstrates what can be achieved when international agencies and industries work together towards a common goal. Sentinel-6B will ensure that we continue to collect the high-precision data needed to understand our changing climate, protect our oceans and support decisions that protect coastal communities around the world.”
The two satellites make up the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission, the latest in a series of ocean-surveilling radar altimetry missions that have been monitoring Earth's changing seas since the early 1990s.
Like its predecessor, Sentinel-6B will also provide key information on wind speed, wave height, atmospheric temperature and humidity. Moreover, because water expands as its temperature rises, researchers can determine which parts of the ocean are warmer than others based on where the sea surface is higher.
Combined with data from other instruments, this knowledge can help predict marine weather, including the development of hurricanes that intensify as waters warm. In addition, since large currents due to higher temperatures are higher than surrounding waters, measurements of the sea surface can shed light on the interaction of, for example, the Gulf Stream and nearby waves. Where they occur, the seas can become rougher, presenting danger to even the largest ships.
“Sentinel-6B is a testament to the value of NASA's partnership missions in putting actionable satellite information and science into the hands of local decision makers,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA's Earth Sciences Division at the agency's headquarters. “Sentinel-6B will collect observational data from the ocean surface that will be used to make decisions critical to coastal communities, commercial shipping and fisheries, national defense, and emergency preparedness and response. That's what NASA does—apply advanced technology and science to benefit the nation.”
When Sentinel-6B reaches its operating altitude, the satellite will fly about 30 seconds behind Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which is equipped with identical science instruments. Once the mission completes cross-calibration of the data collected by the two satellites, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will move to a different orbit and Sentinel-6B will assume the role of the official reference satellite, orbiting Earth approximately 13 times a day at an altitude of 830 miles (1,336 kilometers) above the surface.
“Sentinel-6B demonstrates the versatile geoscience applications made possible by cleverly designed space technologies. The satellite's powerful suite of instruments will measure about 90% of Earth's oceans to within a fraction of an inch, continuing to add a vital dataset on which America and a growing global community depend,” said Dave Gallagher, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
More about Sentinel-6B
Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS is a collaboration between ESA, the European Union, EUMETSAT, NASA and NOAA. The French space agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) provided technical support. Copernicus, which includes the Sentinel missions, is the European Union's Earth observation program led by the European Commission.
A division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory provided three science instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: Advanced Microwave Radiometer, Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio OccultationAnd laser retroreflector grating. NASA also provides launch services, ground systems supporting NASA's science instruments, science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the U.S. members of the International Ocean Surface Topography Science Team and Sentinel-6 science teams.
To learn more about Sentinel-6B, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sentinel-6B/
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Elizabeth Vlok
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
[email protected]
Andrew Wang / Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
626-379-6874 / 626-840-4291
[email protected] / [email protected]
