Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich

Mission

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (Sentinel-6A; Jason-CS)

Type: Earth Science

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B make up the Sentinel-6 mission, also known as Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS), which is a partnership between NASA, NOAA, ESA, and EUMETSAT. This mission continues the long-term global sea surface height data record begun by first Jason satellites in 1992. Named after former NASA Earth Science Division Director Michael Freilich, Sentinel-6 Michail Freilich will provide altimeter data necessary for ocean climate monitoring, ocean modelling and numerical ocean prediction, weather forecasting, marine meteorology, coastal altimetry and modelling. A secondary objective of the mission is to collect high-resolution vertical profiles of temperature, using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio-Occultation sounding technique, to assess temperature changes in the troposphere and stratosphere and to support numerical weather prediction. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is to operate in a highly-inclined circular orbit at an altitude of 1336 km, with an operational mission lasting 5 years. Near-identical Sentinel-6B is planned to follow-up shortly after.

Location

Space Launch Complex 4E

Vandenberg AFB, CA, USA

83 rockets have launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA, USA.

Rocket

Falcon 9 Block 5

Length: 70 meters
Diameter: 3.65 meters
First Launch: May 11, 2018

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

The Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket has been launched a total of 56 times with 56 successful and 0 failed launches.

Landing

B1063 successfully landed after its first launch.

Landing Zone 4 – LZ-4

LZ at Vandenberg

Return to Launch Site – RTLS

A return to launch site usually means that after stage separation the booster flips and does a burn back towards the launch site, landing near where it initially launched from.

Agency

SpaceX

Type: Commercial
Abbreviation: SpX
Administration: CEO: Elon Musk
Founded: 2002
Launchers: Falcon
Spacecraft: Dragon
Country: USA

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has many pads, on the East Coast of the US they own SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral and LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center for their lower inclination launches. They also own SLC-4E at Vandenberg, California for their high inclination launches. Another site is also being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.