Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
NASA and its U.S. and international partners have teamed up to launch a new Earth-observing satellite called Sentinel-6B that will measure sea surface height of most of the planet’s ocean. These observations will help build an accurate picture of local and global sea levels to support weather and storm forecasting, secure coastal property and infrastructure, and help optimize commercial activities such as shipping and undersea pipeline operations.
Sentinel-6B will be the latest in a series of satellites dating back to 1992 that have created a more-than-30-year record of sea level rise around the globe. It’s part of the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-Continuity of Service (CS) mission, which in 2020 launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. As its twin, Sentinel-6B will continue measuring sea levels down to roughly an inch for about 90% of Earth’s ocean.
The Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission was jointly developed by NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding
support from the European Commission and technical support from the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales).
Sentinel-6B will launch from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Nov. 16, 2025.
For more information on the Sentinel-6B mission, visit: science.nasa.gov/mission/sentinel-6b
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech; additional media courtesy of NASA Scientific Visualization Studio; licensed media: traffic jam on highway (Pond5), workers boarding windows (Pond5); aircraft carrier, water distribution, helicopter, refueling ship footage courtesy of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.
NASA and its U.S. and international partners have teamed up to launch a new Earth-observing satellite called Sentinel-6B that will measure sea surface height of most of the planet’s ocean. These observations will help build an accurate picture of local and global sea levels to support weather and storm forecasting, secure coastal property and infrastructure, and help optimize commercial activities such as shipping and undersea pipeline operations.
Sentinel-6B will be the latest in a series of satellites dating back to 1992 that have created a more-than-30-year record of sea level rise around the globe. It’s part of the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-Continuity of Service (CS) mission, which in 2020 launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. As its twin, Sentinel-6B will continue measuring sea levels down to roughly an inch for about 90% of Earth’s ocean.
The Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS mission was jointly developed by NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with funding
support from the European Commission and technical support from the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales).
Sentinel-6B will launch from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Nov. 16, 2025.
For more information on the Sentinel-6B mission, visit: science.nasa.gov/mission/sentinel-6b
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech; additional media courtesy of NASA Scientific Visualization Studio; licensed media: traffic jam on highway (Pond5), workers boarding windows (Pond5); aircraft carrier, water distribution, helicopter, refueling ship footage courtesy of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.
