Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in its fairing

Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in its Falcon 9 rocket fairing on 3 November 2020. Liftoff from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is scheduled for 21 November at 17:17 GMT (18:17 CET; 09:17 PST). Once launched, this new mission will take the role of radar altimetry reference mission, continuing the long-term record of measurements of sea-surface height started in 1992 by the French–US Topex Poseidon and then the Jason series of satellite missions.