# Sentinel-6B
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: eumetsat
- **actual launch**: 2025-11-16
- **current status**: commissioning
- **orbit type**: Non-sun-synchronous ocean-altimetry reference orbit, 1336 km altitude, 66.04 degree inclination, 9.9156-day repeat
- **revisit days**: 9.9156
- **tasking supported**: false
- **current geographic priority**: global ocean sea-surface height, inland water, and atmospheric profile measurements
- **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":"2025-11-16","current_status":"commissioning","orbit_type":"Non-sun-synchronous ocean-altimetry reference orbit, 1336 km altitude, 66.04 degree inclination, 9.9156-day repeat","revisit_days":9.9156,"tasking_supported":false,"current_geographic_priority":"global ocean sea-surface height, inland water, and atmospheric profile measurements","launch_vehicle":"spacex-falcon-9"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
Sentinel-6B is the second flight unit of the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS ocean altimetry programme, formerly designated Jason-CS B. Launch is recorded as 2025-11-16 by NASA Earthdata (UTC) and as 2025-11-17 in EUMETSAT publications (European date label). The satellite reached its final reference orbit of 1336 km altitude and 66.04 degree inclination on 2025-12-16 and entered a cross-calibration tandem phase with Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich ahead of planned reference-mission handover. As of mid-2026 the satellite is commissioning, not yet the operational reference satellite for the Jason altimetry series. Instrument suite matches Sentinel-6A: the Poseidon-4 Ku/C-band SAR radar altimeter, AMR-C and HRMR microwave radiometers, GNSS radio-occultation receiver, DORIS, GNSS POD receiver, laser retroreflector, and a radiation environment monitor. Together, the instruments continue the long-term sea-surface-height, ocean wave, wind, inland water level, and atmospheric-profiling record from the TOPEX/Jason lineage. [^nasa-s6b-spacecraft][^copernicus-s6-payload][^earthdata-s6-jason-cs][^eumetsat-s6b-final-orbit][^eumetsat-s6b-ops]

## Compositional position
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> poseidon-4 (products)
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> amr-c (products)
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> hrmr (products)
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-gnss-ro (products)
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-pod-gnss (products)
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-doris (products)
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-lra (products)
- Sentinel-6B --[mission_payloads]--> sentinel-6-rem (products)

## Sources
- [nasa-s6b-spacecraft] | Sentinel-6B science and spacecraft, NASA Science | https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sentinel-6b/scienceandspacecraft/ | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [copernicus-s6-payload] | Sentinel-6 instrument payload, Copernicus Sentinel Online | https://sentinels.copernicus.eu/missions/sentinel-6/instrument-payload | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [earthdata-s6-jason-cs] | Sentinel-6/Jason-CS platform, NASA Earthdata | https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/platforms/space-based-platforms/sentinel-6-jason-cs | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [eumetsat-s6b-final-orbit] | Copernicus Sentinel-6B first altimeter images and final orbit, EUMETSAT | https://www.eumetsat.int/copernicus-sentinel-6b-delivers-first-altimeter-images-and-reaches-final-orbit | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [eumetsat-s6b-ops] | Moving in the same direction, EUMETSAT | https://www.eumetsat.int/features/moving-same-direction | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14

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