NASA, CNES sign deal for ocean altimetry satellite

NASA and the French space agency, CNES, on Friday signed an agreement to develop, launch and operate the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite scheduled for launch in 2020 to continue a series of U.S.-French missions monitoring the world's oceans. The SWOT mission will survey rivers, lakes, floods and oceans with greater precision than any spaceborne observatory before. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall signed on to the joint mission Friday in Washington. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 5)