Climate Satellite With JPL Equipment Aboard Set for Sunday Night Launch

A new ocean-monitoring satellite carrying three advanced instruments built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is scheduled to launch Sunday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base, continuing a global effort to track rising sea levels and improve weather forecasting.

The Sentinel-6B satellite, developed through a U.S.-European partnership, is set to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 9:21 p.m. PST Sunday, Nov. 16 (12:21 a.m. EST Monday, Nov. 17). NASA will provide live coverage beginning at 8:30 p.m. PST on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and other platforms.

JPL, a division of Caltech, built three key instruments for the mission: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, which measures atmospheric water vapor to ensure precise sea level readings; the Global Navigation Satellite System-Radio Occultation instrument, which tracks satellite signals to produce temperature and humidity profiles; and the Laser Retroreflector Array, which enables ground-based lasers to pinpoint the satellite’s orbital position.

NASA will also use atmospheric data from the mission to refine models that support the safe re-entry of Artemis astronauts returning from lunar missions.

Sentinel-6B will measure sea surface height across 90% of Earth’s oceans with centimeter-level accuracy. The data will support hurricane forecasting, coastal planning, maritime safety, and climate modeling. Sea surface height measurements help meteorologists identify warm ocean regions that can rapidly intensify hurricanes, including events where wind speeds increase by 35 mph or more within 24 hours.

The satellite will replace its twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which launched from Vandenberg in November 2020. Together, the pair extend a continuous sea level record dating back to the 1992 launch of TOPEX/Poseidon, followed by the Jason-1, Jason-2, and Jason-3 missions. According to NASA materials, this 30-year dataset helps scientists distinguish long-term climate trends from short-term ocean variability.

Global sea levels have risen by an average of 3.3 millimeters per year, with recent analyses showing an acceleration to approximately 4.5 millimeters annually as of 2023, driven by warming oceans and melting ice sheets.

“Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is a milestone for sea level measurements,” said Josh Willis, Sentinel-6 project scientist at JPL, in a NASA statement. “It’s the first time we’ve been able to develop multiple satellites that span a complete decade, recognizing that climate change and rising seas are here to stay.”

The Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission is a collaboration among NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT, NOAA, and France’s CNES. ESA led spacecraft development through Airbus Defence and Space, which built the 2,623-pound (1,190-kilogram) satellite in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The spacecraft measures 19.1 feet (5.82 meters) long and 7.74 feet (2.36 meters) high.

NASA is providing launch services, ground systems supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, science data processors for two of those instruments, and support for U.S. members of the international Ocean Surface Topography and Sentinel-6 science teams. The launch contract with SpaceX is valued at approximately $94 million.

Once in orbit, Sentinel-6B will circle Earth every 112 minutes at an altitude of 1,336 kilometers, with a 66-degree inclination and a 10-day repeat cycle. This non-sun-synchronous orbit allows the satellite to observe ocean changes at different times of day and night, capturing variations such as tides.

Following launch, the satellite will undergo a commissioning phase before beginning full science operations. The mission has a nominal lifespan of five and a half years, with onboard consumables for an additional two years of operation, according to NASA and ESA documentation.

A prelaunch news conference was held Saturday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. EST with mission officials.

JPL, located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive in Pasadena, employs approximately 5,500 people and has contributed to ocean altimetry missions for more than three decades. The lab’s instruments have powered previous missions including Jason-2 and Jason-3, helping transform satellite data into actionable insights for communities worldwide.