In a landmark achievement for commercial spaceflight, SpaceX successfully launched the Sentinel-6B satellite into orbit from California, while simultaneously completing its 500th mission using a flight-proven booster. The launch took place from Vandenberg Space Force Base (SLC-4E) in California at 9 : 21 p.m. Pacific Time (05:21 UTC) on November 17, 2025.
The booster (designated B1097.3) had already flown twice earlier this year on Starlink missions, making this its third flight. After separation, it executed a controlled return and touchdown at Landing Zone 4, further proving the re-usability of the Falcon 9 first stage.
Sentinel-6B is a key member of the Copernicus and Jason‐CS series of ocean-monitoring satellites, built to extend more than three decades of uninterrupted sea-surface-height data. With radar altimetry and advanced instrumentation, it will map more than 90 % of the world’s ice-free oceans, tracking sea-level rise, currents, waves and coastal changes.
What makes this flight especially notable is the milestone it represents: the 500th orbital mission conducted by the Falcon rocket family using a reused booster. As noted in SpaceX’s celebratory announcement, “Congratulations to the SpaceX team on completing 500 missions with flight-proven rocket boosters.”
This achievement underscores how far rocket-reusability has come—from experimental to operational. The economics and cadence enabled by reuse allow more frequent launches, lower cost per mission, and greater access to space for scientific, commercial and environmental payloads.
For Earth-observation and climate science, Sentinel-6B’s deployment offers a timely boost. With sea levels rising due to climate change, accurate, continuous data are more important than ever. The combination of commercial launch systems with high-value science missions highlights a convergence of tech maturity and global need.
In short: the rocket’s flame in the California twilight was not just lifting a satellite—it was lifting a milestone. Five hundred missions, three flights for this booster, and a new sentinel watching Earth’s shifting oceans.
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