SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)

Launched NASA and CNES's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite from Vandenberg into an 890 km orbit to measure ocean, lake and river heights at far higher resolution than prior altimetry missions. The booster, flying its sixth mission, landed back at the launch site.

Outcome

Success

Orbit

LEO

Low Earth orbit

Payload to orbit

2.2 T

Flight

133rd

of 638 Falcon 9 Block 5 flights

Date and time

16 December 2022, 11:46 UTC

Rocket

Falcon 9 Block 5

Builder

SpaceX

Launch site

Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Payload

Earth Science

International designator

2022-173

Launches in 2022

179th of 186

See it in orbit

Space Atlas shows the satellites and rocket stages from this launch in 3D.

Object pages on Space Atlas: SWOT

View satellites in Space Atlas↗