Following its second astronaut launch for NASA, SpaceX switched coasts Saturday and launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite in cooperation with NASA, the European Space Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The launch took place at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The mission was the 100th for the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, its 99th actual launch.
Moments after the launch the booster landed beside the launch pad at Vandenberg.
The Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich is the latest in a series of spacecraft intended to take ocean altimetry measurements from 2020 to 2030.
