Live coverage: Delta 2 launches

A European environmental satellite launched Tuesday from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome to begin a mission of at least seven years measuring the height, color and temperature of the world’s oceans. The Sentinel 3A spacecraft lifted off aboard a Rockot booster at 1757 GMT (12:57 p.m. EST).

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with five more Iridium Next communications satellite and the U.S.-German GRACE-Follow On climate research mission.

Watch the Jason-3 Mission Science Briefing held at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on January 15, 2016. (Membership required.)