<s>
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
,	O
or	O
Ocean	B-Algorithm
Surface	I-Algorithm
Topography	I-Algorithm
Mission/Jason	I-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
satellite	O
,	O
was	O
an	O
international	O
Earth	O
observation	O
satellite	O
altimeter	O
joint	O
mission	O
for	O
sea	O
surface	O
height	O
measurements	O
between	O
NASA	O
and	O
CNES	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
third	O
satellite	O
in	O
a	O
series	O
started	O
in	O
1992	O
by	O
the	O
NASA/CNES	O
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
mission	O
and	O
continued	O
by	O
the	O
NASA/CNES	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
mission	I-Algorithm
launched	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
its	O
two	O
predecessors	O
,	O
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
used	O
high-precision	O
ocean	O
altimetry	O
to	O
measure	O
the	O
distance	O
between	O
the	O
satellite	O
and	O
the	O
ocean	O
surface	O
to	O
within	O
a	O
few	O
centimeters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
was	O
built	O
by	O
Thales	O
Alenia	O
Space	O
using	O
a	O
Proteus	O
platform	O
,	O
under	O
a	O
contract	O
from	O
CNES	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
main	O
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
instrument	O
,	O
the	O
Poseidon-3	B-Algorithm
altimeter	O
(	O
successor	O
to	O
the	O
Poseidon	O
and	O
Poseidon	O
2	O
altimeter	O
on-board	O
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
was	O
launched	O
on	O
20	O
June	O
2008	O
,	O
at	O
07:46	O
UTC	O
,	O
from	O
Space	O
Launch	O
Complex	O
2W	O
at	O
Vandenberg	O
Air	O
Force	O
Base	O
in	O
California	O
,	O
by	O
a	O
Delta	O
II	O
7320	O
rocket	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
placed	O
in	O
a	O
circular	O
,	O
non-sun-synchronous	O
orbit	B-Application
at	O
an	O
inclination	O
of	O
66.0	O
°	O
to	O
Earth	O
's	O
equator	O
,	O
allowing	O
it	O
to	O
monitor	O
95%	O
of	O
Earth	O
's	O
ice-free	O
ocean	O
every	O
10	O
days	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
was	O
moved	O
to	O
the	O
opposite	O
side	O
of	O
Earth	O
from	O
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
and	O
now	O
flies	O
over	O
the	O
same	O
region	O
of	O
the	O
ocean	O
that	O
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
flew	O
over	O
five	O
days	O
earlier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
'	O
s	O
ground	O
tracks	O
fall	O
midway	O
between	O
those	O
of	O
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
,	O
which	O
are	O
about	O
apart	O
at	O
the	O
equator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
,	O
ocean	O
altimetry	O
made	O
the	O
transition	O
from	O
research	O
into	O
operational	O
mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
payload	O
aboard	O
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
is	O
the	O
T2L2	O
(	O
Time	O
Transfer	O
by	O
Laser	O
Link	O
)	O
instrument	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
T2L2	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
synchronize	O
atomic	O
clocks	O
at	O
ground	O
stations	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
calibrate	O
the	O
on-board	O
clock	O
of	O
the	O
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
DORIS	O
instrument	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
was	O
a	O
joint	O
effort	O
by	O
four	O
organizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
completing	O
the	O
on-orbit	O
commissioning	O
of	O
the	O
spacecraft	O
,	O
CNES	O
handed	O
over	O
operation	O
and	O
control	O
of	O
the	O
spacecraft	O
to	O
NOAA	O
in	O
October	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
two	O
previous	O
altimetry	O
missions	O
,	O
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
,	O
led	O
to	O
major	O
advances	O
in	O
the	O
science	O
of	O
physical	O
oceanography	O
and	O
in	O
climate	O
studies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
areas	O
in	O
which	O
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
have	O
made	O
major	O
contributions	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
which	O
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
continued	O
to	O
add	O
,	O
are	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Measurements	O
by	O
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
show	O
that	O
mean	O
sea	O
level	O
has	O
been	O
rising	O
by	O
about	O
3mm	O
(	O
0.12	O
inches	O
)	O
a	O
year	O
since	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
made	O
clear	O
the	O
importance	O
of	O
planetary-scale	O
waves	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Rossby	O
and	O
Kelvin	O
waves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
precise	O
measurements	O
of	O
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
'	O
s	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
have	O
brought	O
knowledge	O
of	O
ocean	O
tides	O
to	O
an	O
unprecedented	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
observations	O
provided	O
the	O
first	O
global	O
data	O
for	O
improving	O
the	O
performance	O
of	O
the	O
numerical	O
ocean	O
models	O
that	O
are	O
a	O
key	O
component	O
of	O
climate	O
prediction	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
mission	O
concluded	O
on	O
1	O
October	O
2019	O
,	O
after	O
NASA	O
and	O
its	O
mission	O
partners	O
made	O
the	O
decision	O
to	O
decommission	O
the	O
spacecraft	O
upon	O
discovering	O
significant	O
recent	O
deterioration	O
of	O
the	O
spacecraft	O
's	O
power	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Jason-2	B-Algorithm
is	O
orbiting	O
at	O
an	O
altitude	O
of	O
over	O
,	O
NASA	O
estimates	O
that	O
it	O
will	O
remain	O
in	O
orbit	B-Application
for	O
at	O
least	O
500	O
to	O
1,000	O
years	O
after	O
decommissioning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
fourth	O
spacecraft	O
to	O
be	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Ocean	B-Algorithm
Surface	I-Algorithm
Topography	I-Algorithm
Mission	I-Algorithm
is	O
Jason-3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technologies	O
and	O
data-sets	O
pioneered	O
by	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
,	O
OSTM/Jason	B-Algorithm
-2	I-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
Jason-3	O
,	O
will	O
be	O
continued	O
through	O
the	O
Sentinel-6/Jason	O
-CS	O
satellites	O
,	O
planned	O
for	O
launch	O
in	O
2020	O
and	O
2025	O
.	O
</s>
