Jason-CS Sentinel-6
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| Jason-CS Sentinel-6 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jason-CS Sentinel-6 |
| Operator | National Aeronautics and Space Administration / European Space Agency / EUMETSAT / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| Mission duration | Planned 5 years (operational), extended |
| Spacecraft type | Ocean altimetry satellite |
| Manufacturer | Airbus Defence and Space / Thales Alenia Space / Northrop Grumman |
| Launch mass | ~1,230 kg |
| Launch date | November 2020 (Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich) |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 |
| Launch site | Vandenberg Space Force Base |
| Orbit | Low Earth orbit, near-circular, repeat-track |
Jason-CS Sentinel-6
Jason-CS Sentinel-6 is a series of cooperative oceanographic altimetry satellites designed to continue the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1/Jason-2/Jason-3 records of global sea-level measurements. The program links agencies including National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, EUMETSAT, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and it carries instruments derived from predecessors such as Poseidon-3 and sensors influenced by missions like Envisat and CryoSat. The mission provides continuity in monitoring sea-level rise, ocean circulation, and climate change indicators used by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and national climate services.
Overview
The program continues the multi-decadal altimetry time series initiated by TOPEX/Poseidon and sustained through Jason-1, Jason-2 (also called OSTM), and Jason-3. It serves users across Copernicus Programme stakeholders, climate research groups contributing to the World Climate Research Programme, and operational services at agencies such as NOAA. The mission's continuity underpins datasets used by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change authors, National Centers for Environmental Information, and ocean modelers at institutions including Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Development and Design
Development drew on industrial partners such as Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space, and Northrop Grumman with oversight from agency teams at NASA and ESA. Design heritage traces to Poseidon-3 altimeters and radar altimetry techniques refined on ERS-1/ERS-2 and Envisat. The spacecraft bus integrates guidance and control systems used on missions like Jason-3 and thermal designs informed by Landsat heritage. International procurement and testing involved facilities at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Arianespace contractors, and launch integration at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Mission Objectives and Instruments
Primary objectives include maintaining a high-accuracy, continuous record of global mean sea level, supporting ocean circulation studies, and providing data for operational tide and storm-surge forecasting used by services at EUMETSAT and NOAA. Key instruments comprise a radar altimeter descended from Poseidon-3B, a microwave radiometer building on designs from Jason-3 and TOPEX/Poseidon, a precise orbit determination payload including a Global Positioning System receiver comparable to units on Sentinel-3, and a laser retroreflector array used for satellite laser ranging practiced on LAGEOS. Ancillary sensors reference timing standards such as those developed for GRACE and GRACE-FO to ensure inter-mission consistency employed by climate centers like Met Office and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
Launch and Operations
The first satellite in the series, named in honor of Michael Freilich, was launched by SpaceX on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Operations are coordinated among mission control centers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, EUMETSAT operations in Darmstadt, and flight dynamics teams with links to CNES expertise from the Jason-1 and Jason-2 eras. Routine operations include altimeter tracking passes on a 10-day repeat cycle similar to Jason-3 and spacecraft health management integrating ground stations at Svalbard Satellite Station and Punta Arenas for data relay.
Data Processing and Applications
Level-0 through Level-4 processing chains are implemented by processing centers at CNES, NASA/JPL, and EUMETSAT with calibration and validation campaigns involving Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, and coastal tide-gauge networks such as those maintained by Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level. Products include sea-surface height anomaly maps used by oceanographers at Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and operational centers like NOAA National Hurricane Center for storm surge forecasting, as well as assimilated data streams for global ocean synthesis models at Mercator Ocean. The long-term time series feeds climate assessments by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and sea-level projections used by national planning agencies including United Kingdom Cabinet Office and US Army Corps of Engineers.
International Collaboration and Management
The mission exemplifies multinational collaboration among NASA, ESA, EUMETSAT, and NOAA with programmatic and data-sharing agreements engaging agencies such as CNES and industry partners including Airbus Defence and Space. Governance arrangements follow precedents set by joint missions like OSTM/Jason-2 and cooperative frameworks within the Copernicus Programme. Data policy emphasizes open access consistent with Group on Earth Observations principles, enabling research at universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, San Diego, and University of Southampton as well as operational adoption by agencies like Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Japan Meteorological Agency.