The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, which is supposed to observe and map the Earth's oceans, has successfully launched into space.
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It took off on Saturday morning aboard a launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
US space agency NASA broadcast the launch live on its website.
The satellite is intended to accurately measure changes in sea levels as a serious consequence of climate change.
The mission is a cooperation between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the meteorological satellite agency of Europe, Eumetsat, and the US weather and oceanography authority NOAA.
As part of the Copernicus Earth observation program, the satellite is to be controlled from a centre at Eumetsat in the German city of Darmstadt.
The launch was originally planned earlier, but was postponed due to an inspection of the launch vehicle's engines.
Sentinel-6 is the first of two identical satellites to be launched into space. It is named after the recently deceased Michael H Freilich, a former director of the NASA Earth Science division.
Australian Associated Press
