SpaceX Rocket Launches UK Backed “Marine Cartographer” Satellite Into Orbit | Climate news

A satellite that will allow British scientists to measure sea level has been launched into space on a SpaceX rocket.

Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich was successfully sent into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from a launch pad in California.

Sentinel-6, which is the size of a small 4×4 car, will orbit the Earth from 830 miles upwards, gathering ocean data deemed vital for monitoring climate change.

The information will be analyzed by UK climate and ocean experts, including those from the Met Office and the National Oceanography Center, to help predict what global sea level might look like in the future.

Climate change it is contributing to sea level changes by warming the planet and causing the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps.

Sea level has risen by an average of just over 3mm every year since 1993, although it has risen by as much as 4.8mm in recent years, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

This is expected to increase even more as global temperatures drop.

Sentinel-6 will provide the only means to accurately measure global sea level, helping to protect the 600 million people living in vulnerable coastal areas around the world, the British government said.

The satellite is named after the former head of NASA’s Earth Sciences Division, Dr. Michael Freilich, and is part of the Copernicus mission as part of the European Union’s Earth Observation Program.

It was developed jointly by ESA, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

UK Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: ‘Monitoring sea level rise is one of the most important indicators of our planet’s warming.

“This government-backed satellite will provide our leading scientists, researchers and meteorologists with critical data to measure the true impact of climate change on our planet.”