Jason-3 Ready for Launch

t - 10 minutes

The Antonov cargo aircraft carrying the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite touches down on the runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sept. 24, 2020.

This illustration shows the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft in orbit above Earth with its deployable solar panels extended.

Inside half of the Delta Clam shell faring

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the Jason-3 spacecraft. Liftoff was at 10:42 a.m. PST (1:42 p.m. EST).

Launch preparations are progressing! (11/21/01) Photos: Stacy Mitchell of John Hopkins APL/TIMED project

Jason-1 Line Drawing

Jason-1: JMR instrument

OSTM/Jason-2 DORIS

Jason-1 Launch - Artists Concept

Wave Height

Altimeter Applications - JPL Open House '99

Recorded live launch broadcast of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Nov. 21, 2020, at 9:17 a.m. PST

These photos were taken during the Dual Payload Attach Fitting (DPAF) mating operation with Jason-1. (11/13/01) Photos: Scott Michel

For NASA JPL engineer Parag Vaze, studying Earth’s rising ocean has been a career three decades in the making.

TOPEX/Poseidon Mission to Planet Earth

This is an artist's concept of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich spacecraft.

To provide scientists with essential information about global and regional changes in the seas, NASA will launch the Jason-3 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Jason-1: First Image

TOPEX/Poseidon Line Drawing

This artist's concept show Jason-3 over the Amazon.

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite sits in front of a testing chamber where mission team members tested whether the spacecraft could endure the loud sounds it will encounter during launch.

Jason-1 atop the Delta II Photo: Tom Shain

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket