SpaceX launched the Sentinel-6B ocean-monitoring satellite at 0521 UTC, Monday, (Nov. 17) from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E), Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, marking the 500th orbital mission using a reused Falcon 9 first stage, highlighting the company’s advancements in reusable rocket technology.

The Falcon 9’s first-stage booster, B1097.3, completed its third flight, landing successfully at Landing Zone 4 about nine minutes after liftoff, while the satellite separated from the second stage about 57 minutes later, with the first signal received by European Space Operations Center(ESOC) via the Inuvik ground station at 0654 UTC.

The Sentinel-6B mission, a critical component of the European Copernicus climate program and NASA’s Earth observation efforts, aims to extend over 40 years of continuous sea-level measurement with high-precision data. It's a joint effort led by the European Commission, the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA), and French space agency, CNES, with funding from the European Commission and technical support from CNES.

"Sentinel-6B rising, extending nearly four decades of the precise sea-level record from space," NASA spokesman Derrol Nail said during the agency's launch webcast.

The satellite is designed to operate for 5.5 years after entering service, continuing the legacy of the Jason satellite series. It is the second Sentinel-6 satellite Falcon 9 will launch after delivering the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite to orbit in November 2020.

Sentinel-6B carries advanced instruments including the POSEIDON4 radar altimeter developed by ESA, Advanced Microwave Radiometer (AMR-C), GNSS POD receiver, DORIS receiver, Laser Reflector Array (LRA), and GNSS Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) receiver.

During its first year of observations, Sentinel-6B will work with Sentinel 6 Michael Frelich, "enabling greater accuracy with precise cross-calibration between the two instruments," ESA officials wrote about the mission.

Together, the two Sentinel spacecraft will measure sea-surface height with centimeter-level precision over approximately 90% of Earth’s oceans every 10 days, providing critical data for tracking sea-level rise, ocean currents, climate change impacts and improve forecasts of wind and wave conditions.

"Monitoring sea-level rise is high on the global agenda," European Space Agency ESA officials wrote in a Sentinel-6B mission description.

"In the past 25 years, the average height of the world's oceans has risen by almost 10 cm [4 inches], according to data from Copernicus," they added. "The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission has become the gold standard reference mission to monitor and record this key consequence of climate change."

Data from Sentinel-6B will improve weather forecasts, storm surge predictions, coastal planning, and national defense strategies by providing real-time ocean topography and environmental data.

The satellite’s data will also support NASA’s Artemis lunar missions by aiding in the development of safer reentry procedures for returning astronauts.

SpaceX highlighted the Falcon 9 reuse milestone during Monday's mission in a post on X, as did company president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell.

"Congratulations to the SpaceX team on completing 500 (!!!!) missions with flight-proven rocket boosters. You’ve made the impossible possible with reusable rockets, paving the way to land huge amounts of cargo and lots of people to establish permanent human presence on the moon and beyond with Starship!" Shotwell wrote.

The fully reusable Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. SpaceX is developing it to help get humanity to the moon and Mars, among other feats. Starship has launched 11 times to date, but those don't contribute to the 500 count; all of Starship's liftoffs so far have been suborbital test flights.

Before boarding Air Force One to the White House from West Palm Beach, Florida, Sunday night, President Donald Trump defended popular journalist Tucker Carlson following his recent interview with right-wing commentator Nick Fuentes.

The interview between Carlson and Fuentes, sparked a significant backlash within the Republican Party, particularly from pro-Israel Jewish neconservative leaders and organizations like the Heritage Foundation, which initially defended Carlson before later denouncing Fuentes’ views.

One reporter asked Trump in West Palm Beach, in light of the Fuentes interview, “What role do you think Tucker Carlson should play in the Republican Party and the conservative movement?”

“Well, I found him to be good,” Trump said of Carlson. “I mean, he said good things about me over the years. He’s — I think he’s good. We’ve had some good interviews. I did an interview with him, we were at 300 million hits.”

Trump continued: "We’ve had some great interviews with Tucker Carlson, but you can’t tell him who to interview. I mean, if he wants to interview Nick Fuentes, I don’t know much about him, but if he wants to do it, get the word out. Let him. You know, people have to decide. Ultimately, people have to decide."

The president was then asked about having dinner with Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago in 2022 and “What role [Fuentes] should play in the conservative movement.”

Trump said he “didn’t know” Fuentes was coming and that he ended up being the guest of Ye.

“I didn’t know Nick at the time… he came along, with a few other people. [Kanye West] brought a few people with him. Uh, meeting people, talking to people, for somebody like Tucker, that’s what they do,” Trump said. “You know, people are controversial.”

He then quipped: “Some are, some aren’t. I’m not controversial. And I like it that way.”

The controversy comes amid broader tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza and accusations of antisemitism aimed at critics of Israeli influence on American politics, with Trump’s MAGA supporters expressing frustrations over his undue focus on Israel and Middle East affairs at the expense of domestic economic problems, and the deplatforming of critics of Israel.

Carlson has also faced criticism from Jewish neoconservatives, for his critical views of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his growing criticism of U.S. support for Israel, which has led to accusations of anti-Semitism from pro-Israel figures like Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the 5,900-kilogram ViaSat-3 Flight 2 satellite lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 0304 UTC on Thursday (Nov. 14) on AV-100 mission.

The Atlas V 551 configuration, powered by five solid rocket boosters and an RD-180 main engine, generated approximately 2.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. After the first stage burn and separation of the solid rocket boosters and payload fairings, the Centaur upper stage performed a series of burns to place the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

The upper stage completed the initial burn to achieve a parking orbit, followed by a second burn to inject the payload into an intermediate GTO, with the final deployment of the ViaSat-3 F2 satellite occurring approximately 3.5 hours after liftoff.

The ViaSat-3 F2 satellite, built on Boeing’s 702MP+ platform using electric propulsion and solar arrays from Spectrolab, is designed to add more than 1 terabit per second (Tbps) of capacity to Viasat’s network over the Americas. It will operate in geostationary orbit (GEO), located approximately 35,786 kilometers above Earth, where its orbital speed matches Earth’s rotation, allowing it to remain fixed over a specific region. The satellite will spend several months using its onboard propulsion system to maneuver from GTO to its final GEO position, with full service expected to begin in early 2026.

Each ViaSat-3 satellite is "designed to be capable of rapidly shifting capacity throughout its coverage area to deliver bandwidth where and when it’s needed most," Viasat, a California-based telecom company, wrote in a description of the mini constellation.

"This is important to meet the increasing demand of commercial, consumer and defense customers, where the location of high-demand hotspots can change over the course of the day," the company added.

According to that description, ViaSat-3 F1 provides connectivity primarily to airline passengers. ViaSat-3 F2 will "add more than 1 Tbps capacity to our network over the Americas," and ViaSat-3 F3 will do the same for the Asia-Pacific region.

This mission marks a significant step in Viasat’s multi-orbit satellite network, enhancing connectivity for consumer, commercial, and government customers through dynamic beam forming capabilities that allow real-time bandwidth allocation to high-demand areas. The successful launch follows the earlier deployment of ViaSat-3 F1 in April 2023, which experienced antenna issues that delayed service and reduced capacity. A third satellite, ViaSat-3 F3, is scheduled for launch next year to serve the Asia-Pacific region.

The Atlas V rocket, which has flown over 100 missions since its 2002 debut, is scheduled for retirement around 2030, with ULA transitioning to its Vulcan Centaur rocket for future missions.

AV-100 was the 105th flight of the Atlas V rocket and the second in the ViaSat-3 series. It was delayed from its original November 5 target due to an issue with a vent valve in the Atlas V’s liquid oxygen tank, requiring the rocket to be rolled back, the valve replaced, and the vehicle returned to the pad.