Aquarius spacecraft in orbit. Computer artwork of the Aquarius SAC-D satellite in Earth orbit over South America. This spacecraft was launched on 10th June 2011 and is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency, with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the spacecraft, will take NASA's first space-based measurements of ocean surface salinity, a key missing variable in satellite observations of Earth that links ocean circulation, the global balance of freshwater and climate.