Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch a satellite on November 10 that can measure rising sea levels from orbit.
The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will update maps of the oceans every 10 days, showing scientists how much rising sea levels are eroding coastlines.
On-board digital altimeters can measure millimeter-scale changes in elevation from the satellite, which will orbit 830 miles above Earth.
The aim of the data is to help decision-makers and government better protect coasts and prepare for floods.
The satellite will take off on November 10 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, which will blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The project is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, and is expected to improve three decades of data about sea levels.
NASA contracted aerospace company SpaceX to launch the satellite.
Paul Counet, strategy chief at the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, which will operate the satellite, told Bloomberg: “Measurements of global and regional sea level have become a valuable tool for decision makers to assess one of the most compelling impacts of climate change and how to prepare for flooding of coastal areas.”
