Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched into orbit on November 21, 2020. The launch was a culminated European-American effort that involved organisations from both sides of the atlantic. The European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meterological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Centre for Space Studes (CNES) all collaborated together to make the launch of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich a reality.​ The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is the first of the Sentinel-6 satellites. An identical satellite, Sentinel-6B will follow in 2025. At an altitude of 1336 km the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will use instruments on board to provide highly accurate measurements of the sea level in an effort to combat climate change and support weather forecasting. The data will also be used in the case of disaster management and emergency relief efforts globally. With it, disaster management professionals will be able to better predict and tackle climatological (forest fires, glacial lake outburst, drought), hydrological (landslide, flood) and meteorological (severe storm, extreme temperature) disasters.

Instruments:

  • AMR-C (AMR-C Climate-quality microwave radiometer)
  • DORIS-NG (Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning integrated by Satellite-NG)
  • GNSS POD Receiver (GNSS Precise Orbit Determination Receiver)
  • GNSS-RO Receiver (GNSS Radio Occulation Receiver)
  • LRA Sentinel-6 (Laser Retroflector Array Sentinel-6)
  • Poseidon-4 Altimeter (Poseidon-4 SAR Radar Altimeter)

 

5years
Low Earth
112 minutes
To provide continuity of the reference, high-precision ocean topography service after Jason-3.
No