WATCH: NASA to Launch Sentinel-6B International Ocean Tracking Mission Aboard Falcon 9 from Vandenberg

Launch is targeted at 12:21 a.m EST, Monday, November 17

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – NASA’s launch of Sentinel-6B, an international mission delivering critical sea level and ocean data to protect coastal infrastructure, improve weather forecasting, and support commercial activities at sea, is targeted at 12:21 a.m., Monday, November 17, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Watch coverage HERE beginning at 11:30 p.m. EST.

The Sentinel-6B mission continues a decades-long effort to monitor global sea level and ocean conditions using precise radar measurements from space. Since the early 1990s, satellites launched by NASA and by domestic and international partners have collected precise sea-level data.

The launch of Sentinel-6B will extend this dataset out to nearly four decades.

NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Sunday, November 16 – 11:30 p.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more.

Audio-only coverage

Audio-only of the launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220 or -1240. On launch day, “mission audio” countdown activities without NASA+ launch commentary will be carried at 321-867-7135.

Sentinel-6B is the second of twin satellites in the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission, a collaboration among NASA, ESA, EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The first satellite in the mission, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched in November 2020. The European Commission contributed funding support, while France’s space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales) provided technical expertise. The mission also marks the first international involvement in Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme.

For more information about these missions, CLICK HERE.

Similar Stories