NASA/SpaceX SWOT Liftoff

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, lifts off from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Dec. 16, 2022, at 3:46 a.m. PST. A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency, SWOT will be the first satellite to survey nearly all water on Earth’s surface. The satellite will help researchers understand how much water flows in and out of Earth’s freshwater bodies and will provide insight into the ocean’s role in climate change. The instruments onboard will measure the height of water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the ocean, and will observe ocean features in higher definition than ever before. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is managing the launch service.