Sentinel-6 Blasts Off! Our Part in Measuring Climate Change

Critical has always been a pioneer in the realms of space (our first client in 1998 was NASA, after all…). And while a lot of things on Earth changed this year, our commitment to breaking boundaries and crossing new frontiers wasn’t one of them!

The Sentinel-6 ‘Michael Freilich’ satellite was launched from Vandenberg, California on 21st November, setting in motion a mission which will aim to monitor sea levels across the globe over the next decade. This will form a key means of combatting climate change by providing vital evidence for future initiatives. 

Critical began work on the project back in 2016 and carried out the final test campaign on the satellite’s onboard software within a month of launch in November. 

Mauro Gameiro, Critical’s Principal Engineer for Space, commented: “Sentinel-6 represents the latest leap we’ve made in the development of space-critical software, this time focusing on a major issue our Earth faces over the coming years: climate change. This satellite enables the continued monitoring of sea levels for at least the next decade. 

“We hope that, with the data the Sentinel project collects, it will be possible to formulate viable solutions to the perennial problem of climate change, which affects many of our communities.”

As part of the Sentinel-6 mission, a second satellite, the Sentinel-6B, will be launched in 2025. This will contribute to the provision of high-quality sea altimetry for the remainder of the 2020s. 

Find out more about the Sentinel-6 mission here and discover how Critical can take your project beyond the final frontier by visiting our Space industry page.