Sentinel 6 has been named after NASA's Earth Science Division Director, Dr Michael Freilich who passed away previous year in August.

United Kingdom science minister Amanda Solloway said: "Tracking rising sea levels is one of the most important indicators of our planet warming up. Worldwide collaboration is critical to both understanding these changes and informing coastal communities around the world".

The Starlink launch is set for 6:56 p.m. PT (9:56 p.m. ET) on Saturday. It will now undergo a series of exhaustive checks and calibrations before it starts collecting science data in a few months' time. Freilich passed away August 5, 2020.

NASA posted this footage of the booster separation followed soon after by the fairing separation that revealed the satellite shortly before its deployment.

"Together, the pair is tasked with extending our almost 30-year-long record of global sea surface height measurements. We're standing down from today's attempt for additional mission assurance".

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is scheduled to launch on Saturday as the next generation of spacecraft monitors the sea levels on our planet. Together, these satellites have provided a almost 30-year record of precise measurements of sea level height while tracking the rate at which our oceans are rising in response to our warming climate. The same twin, Sentinel-6B, will soon be established in 2025 to guarantee the continuity of this document.

Sentinel -6, however, is not the first spacecraft made to monitor oceans.

It flew again in January 2019 to deliver 10 Iridium Next satellites to orbit, and then four more times this year on different Starlink missions. It'll take about a year for the initial satellite to take over from its predecessor, Jason-3.

As large as a small 4×4 vehicle, Sentinel-6 will orbit the earth from an altitude of 830 miles and collect ocean data that will be crucial for monitoring climate change.

The launch will make this first stage booster SpaceX's fleet leader, completing six launches and landings already - part of the private space company's effort to reuse boosters and lower the cost of access to space.

The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is the first of two identical satellites to provide critical measurements of sea-level change.

Morale stays high among the gathering and Dunn said he is glad for all the variations his partners are making.

That satellite data has shown that sea levels are not only rising, but also that the rate of increase is accelerating.

Sentinel-6 perceptions will be remembered for, for example, ocean wave gauges (convenient for transportation items over the sea) and hurricane forecasts, to empty seaside populaces rapidly if the need emerges.

Another instrument, the Global Navigation Satellite System-Radio Occultation, or GNSS-RO, will aid the work of meteorologists and climate scientists by intercepting the radio signals of communication satellites appearing and disappearing over Earth's horizon.

See how this U.S.