# Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: eumetsat
- **actual launch**: 2020-11-21
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: Non-sun-synchronous ocean-altimetry orbit, 1336 km altitude, 66 deg inclination, 10-day repeat
- **revisit days**: 10
- **tasking supported**: false
- **current geographic priority**: Global ocean topography and sea-level reference orbit
- **launch vehicle**: spacex-falcon-9
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-14
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: eumetsat
- **attributes**: {"operator":"eumetsat","actual_launch":"2020-11-21","current_status":"operational","orbit_type":"Non-sun-synchronous ocean-altimetry orbit, 1336 km altitude, 66 deg inclination, 10-day repeat","revisit_days":10,"tasking_supported":false,"current_geographic_priority":"Global ocean topography and sea-level reference orbit","launch_vehicle":"spacex-falcon-9"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich is the first flight unit of the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS ocean altimetry programme, formerly designated Jason-CS A. It launched on 2020-11-21 from Vandenberg on a Falcon 9 rocket into a non-sun-synchronous reference orbit at 1336 km altitude, 66 degree inclination, with a 10-day exact repeat. The programme is a partnership of EUMETSAT (routine operator), CNES, ESA, NASA, NOAA, and the European Commission. The primary payload is the Poseidon-4 Ku/C-band SAR radar altimeter, which measures sea-surface height, significant wave height, and ocean wind speed. Supporting instruments include the Advanced Microwave Radiometer-Climate (AMR-C) and the High-Resolution Microwave Radiometer (HRMR) for wet-tropospheric and coastal-zone correction, a GNSS radio-occultation receiver for atmospheric profiling, and GNSS, DORIS, and laser retroreflector systems for precise orbit determination. A Radiation Environment Monitor (REM) tracks the space radiation environment. The mission maintains the long-term sea-level record established by the TOPEX/Poseidon - Jason series and also contributes inland water level measurements. [^eumetsat-s6-overview][^copernicus-s6-payload][^wmo-sentinel-6a]

## Compositional position
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> poseidon-4 (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> amr-c (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> hrmr (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-pod-gnss (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-doris (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-lra (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-gnss-ro (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[mission_payloads]--> rem-sentinel-6a (products)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[related-topic]--> sea-level (topics)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[related-topic]--> sea-state (topics)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[related-topic]--> inland-water (topics)
- Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich --[related-topic]--> atmospheric-profiling (topics)

## Sources
- [eumetsat-s6-overview] | EUMETSAT Copernicus Sentinel-6 overview | https://www.eumetsat.int/copernicus-sentinel-6-monitoring-global-ocean | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [copernicus-s6-payload] | Copernicus Sentinel-6 instrument payload | https://sentinels.copernicus.eu/missions/sentinel-6/instrument-payload | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [wmo-sentinel-6a] | WMO OSCAR satellite record: Sentinel-6A | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/sentinel_6a | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/sentinel-6a
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)