PRE-LAUNCH BFG FOR SENTINEL-6B SEA-LEVEL MONITORING SATELLITE, Nov 13, 2025, virtual, 5:00 am ET

ESA, the European Commission, EUMETSAT and others will hold an online pre-launch briefing on November 13, 2025 in English at 11:00 Central European Time (CET, which is 5:00 am Eastern Standard Time–EST) in advance of the scheduled launch of the sea-level monitoring satellite Sentinel-6B. The launch is scheduled on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA on November 17, 2025 UTC.

The English-language briefing will be followed by a briefing in French at 12:00 CET.

The English-language briefing will air on ESA TV.

Speakers are [SUBTRACT 6 HOURS FOR EST]:

13 November 11:00 – 12:00 CET (English)

Speakers:

• Simonetta Cheli, Director for Earth Observation Programmes, ESA
• Phil Evans, Director General, EUMETSAT
• Mauro Facchini, Head of Earth Observation Unit, European Commission (DEFIS)
• NASA representative TBD
• Pierre-Yves Le Traon, Science Director, Mercator Ocean

Moderator: Emmet Fletcher, Head of the ESA Member States Outreach Office

13 November 12:00 – 13:00 CET (French)

Speakers:

• Simonetta Cheli, Director for Earth Observation Programmes, ESA
• Mauro Facchini, Head of Earth Observation Unit, European Commission (DEFIS)
• Estelle Obligis, Marine Applications Competence Area Manager, EUMETSAT
• Pierre-Yves Le Traon, Science Director, Mercator Ocean

Moderator: Jules Grandsire, Media Relations Officer, ESA

From ESA:

About Sentinel-6B:

The Sentinel-6B satellite is essentially identical to Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which was launched in November 2020 from the same launch site in the USA. These satellites continue the legacy of sea-surface height monitoring that began in 1992 with the French–US Topex Poseidon mission, followed by the Jason series of satellites.

While Sentinel-6 is one of the European Union’s family of Copernicus missions, its implementation is the result of an exceptional cooperation between the European Commission, ESA, NASA, EUMETSAT, and NOAA, with support from the CNES French space agency.

ESA’s prime contractor for the build of the mission is Airbus Defence and Space in Germany with Thales Alenia Space in France responsible for the altimeter.