On November 21st at 17:17 UTC, a SpaceX Falcon 9 took off from Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, an ocean-mapping satellite.

Vandenberg was chosen as the launch site because it is better suited for high-inclination launches than the east coast sites.

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich had several missions taking place in parallel: Copernicus Sentinel-6 is the next radar altimetry reference mission to extend the legacy of sea-surface height measurements until at least 2030. Another instrument uses the Global Navigation Satellite System Radio-Occultation sounding technique, which analyzes changes in signals from international global navigation system satellites to determine atmospheric temperature and humidity.

Sentinel-6 was the 99th Falcon 9 launch.

The patch is circular, alluding to the earth it will orbit. On the top of the patch are the names of the organizations that collaborated on the satellite: NASA, JPL, NOAA, ESA, EUMETSAT, and the EU. In the center of the patch is a depiction of the satellite with its gold body, blue solar panels, and center-mounted radio dish. On the bottom of the patch are white outlines showing waves, which the satellite is intended to measure

And being a SpaceX launch, the Falcon 9 booster landed itself at Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg, making it just the third time this has taken place on the west coast.

A fairing catch attempt was not made during this mission. The fairings were fished out of the water by NRC Quest, normally the Dragon recovery boat. The GO Twins MS Chief and MS Tree with their nets reside on the east coast and could not make the trip.

More Information

NASA Kennedy blog 

NASA JPL mission page 

ESA mission page