European-US satellite mission critical for measuring impact of climate change on oceans

This unique, European-American mission will shortly become the reference mission, against which all other satellite ocean altimetry missions will measure their accuracy.

Today’s first release of high-resolution data from the satellite’s altimeter comes just weeks after the COP26 meeting in Glasgow heard more about the growing threat posed to coastal communities and island states from rising sea levels due to climate change.

Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is controlled from EUMETSAT’s Darmstadt headquarters, where its altimetry data is processed then disseminated to users of the data.

The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched from California, in the United States, on 21 November 2020. It is the first of a new generation of ocean-altimetry satellites and will be followed into orbit by its twin, Sentinel-6B, in 2025.