Vandenberg: A new satellite developed by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) was launched on Sunday night to track sea levels across more than 90 percent of the world’s oceans. The ocean-monitoring satellite, named Sentinel-6B, was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the U.S. state of California at 9:21 p.m. Pacific Time (0521 GMT).

According to Namibia Press Agency, Sentinel-6B will orbit Earth every 112 minutes at about 7.2 km per second. It is set to eventually succeed its twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which was launched five years ago. This mission continues a decades-long record of sea level measurements from space, as stated by NASA.

The data collected by the mission, alongside atmospheric observations, will be crucial in supporting public safety, urban planning, and the protection of coastal infrastructure such as power plants and defense facilities.