NASA-ESA successfully launches Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite to monitor global sea levels

NASA-ESA successfully launches Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite to monitor global sea levels

• The US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched ‘Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite’ on 21 November 2020, to monitor the rising global sea level.
• The joint US-European satellite lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
• The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will help to enhance weather forecasts and provide detailed information on large-scale ocean currents to support ship navigation near coastlines.
• The US-EU collaboration for the monitoring of sea level record began in 1992 with the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite and followed by Jason-1 (2001), OSTM/Jason-2 (2008), and eventually, Jason-3 (2016).
• This Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will be followed in 2025 by its twin, Sentinel-6B.