In this Nov. 3, 2020 photo, provide by the European Space Agency, the Sentinel-6 satellite is placed inside the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket.
The joint European-U.S. satellite mission to improve measurements of sea level rise is being launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday Nov. 22, 2020.
The new satellite, called Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, contains cutting-edge instruments able to capture sea level height with unprecedented accuracy, adding to space-based measurements going back almost 30 years.
“We owe him a lot and he more than deserves to have this satellite named after him,” said Aschbacher.
It’s the first time that another space agency has been involved in ESA’s flagship Copernicus mission, which already has seven satellites in orbit measuring the seas, atmosphere and land.