On Saturday, NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) jointly launched the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite. It was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California, US.

This satellite will measure the shape of the world’s oceans. It will track not only sea-level rise but keep a check on how the oceans’ waters are moving around the globe.

Sentinel-6 is part of the European Union’s Copernicus Earth-observation programme. It has also been named “Michael Freilich”. Michael Freilich was an oceanographer and director of NASA’s Earth sciences division.

The satellite weighs 1.3 tonnes (1 tonne is 1000 kg) and looks similar to a dog kennel.  It has a twin called Sentinel-6B, which will launch in 2025, to do the same work.

The Sentinel will continue with the work that has been done by a previous series of satellites which have all shown that sea levels globally are rising.

Sentinel-6 will use an instrument called a radar altimeter to study the height of the oceans. Sentinel-6 is more advanced than earlier missions and will be able to see seas and coastlines more clearly.

The satellite will gather data that can be used to improve weather prediction, hurricane tracking and measure atmospheric temperature. Scientists can also use the data to predict areas where coastlines may shift.

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