“This mission demonstrates what NASA and the European Space Agency can achieve as equal partners in such a large space project. Our suggestion to rename the satellite to ‘Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich’ is an expression of how thankful we are to Mike. Without him, this mission as it is today would not have been possible."
Source: ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programs Josef Aschbacher, commenting as ESA, NASA, the European Commission, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) renamed the upcoming Sentinel-6A satellite after Earth scientist Dr. Michael H. Freilich.