NASA SWOT Payload Scheduled for Launch Aboard SpaceX Falcon 9

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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Team Vandenberg is scheduled to launch a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4-E here, Thursday, Dec. 15, at approximately 3:46 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.

The Falcon 9 booster will return to Vandenberg creating a sonic boom approximately eight minutes after liftoff.

U.S. and French oceanographers and hydrologist and international partners have joined forces to develop this satellite mission to make the first global survey of Earth’s surface water, observe the fine details of the ocean’s surface topography, and measure how water bodies change over time.

The SWOT mission is being jointly developed by NASA and CNES with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency.

For questions regarding the launch window or Vandenberg SFB range operations, contact Space Launch Delta 30 Public Affairs at (805) 606-3595 or SLD30.PA.Workflow@us.af.mil.

For questions regarding the NASA SWOT mission, contact Leejay Lockhart, NASA Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs at leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov