Relive the Launch: Sentinel-6B

• Rewatch the Launch (starting at t - 4 seconds)

• Spacecraft Separation (starting at t + 57:00)

Sentinel-6B, an international mission that will deliver critical sea level and ocean data, launched at 9:21 p.m. PST, Sunday, Nov. 16 (12:21 a.m. EST, Monday, Nov. 17) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Sentinel-6B is the second of twin satellites in the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission. The first, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched in November 2020. The mission continues a decades-long effort to monitor global sea level and ocean conditions using radar to make precise measurements from space.

The Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission 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).