Overview

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) is an international coordinating mechanism charged with coordinating international civil spaceborne missions designed to observe and study planet Earth. Comprising 26 Members (most of which are space agencies) and 20 Associates (associated national and international organizations), CEOS is recognized as the major international forum for the coordination of Earth observation satellite programs and for interaction of these programs with users of satellite data worldwide.

See the list of agencies in CEOS.

CEOS was created in 1984 in response to a recommendation from the Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations Working Group on Growth, Technology, and Employment’s Panel of Experts on Satellite Remote Sensing. This group recognized the multidisciplinary nature of satellite Earth observation and the value of coordination across all proposed missions. Convened under the original name of International Earth Observations Satellite Committee (IEOSC), the organization combined the previously existing groups for Coordination on Ocean Remote-Sensing Satellites (CORSS) and Coordination on Land Observing Satellites (CLOS) and established a broad framework for coordinating all spaceborne Earth observation missions.

Individual participating agencies make their best efforts to implement CEOS recommendations. The main goal of CEOS is to ensure that critical scientific questions relating to Earth observation and global change are covered and that satellite missions do not unnecessarily overlap each other.