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Watch NASA's ocean-monitoring satellite launch here at 6AM ET
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite will track the vast majority of water on Earth for the first time. It will help to improve flood forecasts, drought monitoring and models that predict rising sea levels.
SpaceX to launch ocean-monitoring NASA satellite in 2021
Elon Musk's SpaceX has been awarded a new contract to launch a NASA satellite in 2021. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will begin at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, using a Falcon 9 rocket to take the research hardware into orbit. From there, NASA will conduct "the first-ever global survey of Earth's surface water," taking detailed recordings that should explain how our oceans change over time. The total cost of the launch is said to be $112 million, however the money won't be going to SpaceX alone. As the Verge reports, some is being put aside for other organisations providing "additional support."
