Month: November 2022

NASA’s Surface Water Satellite to Launch Thursday, Dec. 15

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft is moved into a transport container inside the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Nov. 18, 2022. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Chris Okula

NASA, the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales, and SpaceX are now targeting 3:46 a.m. PST Thursday, Dec.15, for the launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite. The new date allows for additional time to complete prelaunch processing and checkouts of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

SWOT will be NASA’s first global survey of nearly all water on Earth’s surface. Scientists plan to use its observations to better understand the global water cycle, furnish insight into the ocean’s role in how climate change unfolds, and provide a global inventory of water resources.

The SWOT mission is a collaborative effort between NASA and the French space agency with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency.

SWOT will launch from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

International SWOT Mission Now Targeting Dec. 12 Launch

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite is loaded into a container in Cannes, France, in preparation for its transportation to the United States.
Workers in a clean room in Cannes, France, load the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite into a container in preparation for shipping the spacecraft to the U.S. Photo credit: CNES/Thales Alenia Space

NASA, the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), and SpaceX are now targeting Monday, Dec. 12, for the launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch SWOT from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

After considering the schedule for completion of the satellite build, transportation of the SWOT spacecraft from France to Vandenberg , and carrying out the remaining launch campaign tasks, the team determined that additional time was needed to conduct these activities and ready the satellite for launch.

SWOT is the first satellite mission that will survey nearly all water on Earth’s surface. Its instruments will measure the height of water in the planet’s lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean in higher definition than ever before. This will help to inform water equity and water management decisions, provide new insights into Earth’s water and energy cycle, and help prepare communities for rising seas and changing coastlines in a warming climate.