The Sentinel Missions

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Copernicus Sentinel-6: Monitoring the global ocean

The Copernicus Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich ocean-monitoring satellite was launched at 18:17 (CET) on November 2020 from Vandenberg air force base, California.

WEKEO

EUMETSAT, ECMWF, Mercator Ocean International and the EEA have developed the WEKEO data information and access service (DIAS) to provide fast and easy access to Copernicus data and products.

Monitoring Oceans

EUMETSAT supports the development of operational oceanography through the delivery of ocean data.

The Earth observation satellites which provide the data used by the Copernicus services are split into two groups of missions: the Sentinels and the Contributing Missions.

Last Updated

31 May 2022

Published on

20 July 2020

Currently being developed for the specific needs of the Copernicus programme, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3, Sentinel-5P and Sentinel-6 are dedicated satellites, while Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 are instruments onboard EUMETSAT’s MTG and Metop-SG satellites.

EUMETSAT is responsible for operating the Sentinel-3 satellites and delivering the marine mission and will also operate and deliver products from the Sentinel-4 , and Sentinel-5 instruments, and the Sentinel-6 satellites.

The contributing missions

The contributing Missions, are operated by national, European or international organisations and provide a wealth of data for Copernicus services.

EUMETSAT delivers products to Copernicus from a number of Contributing Missions that include its Metop and Meteosat satellites, the Jason-3 satellite (NASA/NOAA/CNES/EUMETSAT, supported by the EU), and also from international partners, for example sea surface temperature and ocean colour data from the US Suomi-NPP satellite.