• Artist concept of satellite orbiting Earth with gold-covered rectangular prism base and four solar panels apiece on two sides.
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    The latest ocean monitoring satellite, Jason-3 was launched on January 17, 2016. Its radar altimeter will measure global sea surface height. Scientists will use the data it collects to study global and regional changes in sea level, tropical cyclones, ocean circulation, and climate change. The mission will last three to five years.

    Jason-3 is an international partnership consisting of the following agencies: NOAA, NASA, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES)—France’s space agency—and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

    Jason-3 continues the sea surface height measurements collected by the joint NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon mission in 1992, the NASA/CNES Jason-1 mission in 2001, and the Jason-2 mission in 2008.

  • Artist concept of satellite orbiting Earth with gold-covered rectangular prism base and four solar panels apiece on two sides.

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NASA-PIA14439

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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