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NASA Shares Sentinel-6B Launch Milestones

Image shows night time with a closeup view with a white payload fairing with NASA's Sentinel-6 Satellite inside.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the international Sentinel-6B spacecraft atop stands vertical ahead of launch from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. A collaboration between NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Sentinel-6B is designed to measure sea levels down to roughly an inch for about 90% of the world’s oceans. NASA is targeting launch no earlier than 9:21 p.m. PST.
NASA

NASA and its launch partners are tracking several events during countdown and launch of Sentinel-6B aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Time | Events (all times are approximate):
-00:43:00 | NASA launch manager propellant load and launch readiness poll
-00:38:00 | SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for propellant load
-00:35:00 | RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
-00:35:00 | First stage liquid oxygen (LOX) loading begins
-00:16:00 | Second stage LOX loading begins
-00:07:00 | Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
-00:04:00 | NASA “go/no-go” poll for launch
-00:01:00 | Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
-00:01:00 | Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
-00:00:45 | SpaceX launch director verifies “go” for launch
-00:00:03 | Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 | Falcon 9 liftoff
00:01:12 | Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:13 | First stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:17 | First and second stages separate
00:02:25 | Second stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:02:30 | Falcon boostback burn start
00:02:48 | Fairing deployment
00:07:22 | First stage entry burn begin
00:07:48 | First stage entry burn ends
00:08:18 | Second stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:08:42 | First stage landing burn start
00:09:11 | First stage landing at Landing Zone 4
00:52:02 | Second stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:52:12 | Second stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:57:13 | Sentinel-6B deploys

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