Over the past four decades, CEOS has significantly contributed to the advancement of space-based Earth observation community efforts. The 64 members and associates of CEOS communicate, collaborate, and exchange information on Earth observation (EO) activities, spurring useful partnerships and outputs that respond to stakeholder needs. CEOS played an influential role in the establishment and ongoing development of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Work Programme activities. CEOS, through major investments made by its member Agencies, continues to provide space-based data in support of civil Earth observation efforts worldwide.

CEOS Agencies work together on collaborative missions and initiatives, and such cooperative efforts have highly benefited users all around the world. CEOS provides an established means of communicating with external organizations, enabling Agencies to collectively understand and act upon external stakeholder needs, in promoting the use of EO data, facilitating international cooperation, and fostering innovation. This important collaboration has helped contribute to addressing key challenges of our time including, but not limited to, disaster response, resource management, food security, and other areas.

Coordinated access to satellite EO data is central to the successful delivery of GEO’s vision for Earth intelligence. Satellites can provide a truly comprehensive view of the planet, providing global coverage, regular updates and the diverse array of data and measurements required to make sense of our complex planet. Satellite EO data provides unique value and is also key to unlocking the value of non-satellite data, including from in situ networks.

In addition to engaging in activities to support the collection and use of satellite Earth observations, CEOS is lowering technical barriers for use of these data through fundamental work in information systems, data quality assurance and interoperability. This work is key to ensuring data from both government and commercial satellite systems can be readily integrated and technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence can be responsibly exploited to provide trusted insights upon which users can rely. Through its global leadership on Analysis Ready Data (ARD), CEOS has coordinated its efforts across all these areas to make it easier for more people, including the GEO community, to put the growing volume of satellite EO data to work. CEOS-ARD has already been instrumental for some of the Digital Earth activities connected to GEO, namely in Australia, Africa and the Pacific. CEOS is committed to open data access and to building and enabling capacity for the use of satellite EO data worldwide.

CEOS is an active member of the GEO Programme Board and an observer to the GEO Executive Committee. Further, CEOS Agencies continue to contribute extensively to the GEO Work Programme, as has been the case since GEO’s inception. In the Post-2025 GEO Work Programme, CEOS Agencies are listed as a partner or as contributing to the following activities: GFOI (Mature Flagship), GEOGLAM (Flagship), GEO-LDN (Flagship), GSNL (Flagship), Digital Earth Africa (Enabling Mechanism) and Digital Earth Pacific (Enabling Mechanism). Further, CEOS is now working closely with GEO BON via a dedicated CEOS Biodiversity Study Team (BST); the BST has a one-year mandate to look into how satellite EO data and technologies can support this complex and dynamic domain. In fact, CEOS members and associates are effectively involved in many aspects of the GEO Work Programme as data providers or technology enablers, even when not listed as partners.

CEOS has also taken on an initiative to engage youth, who are key to the future of EO. The 2025 CEOS Chair, the United Kingdom Space Agency, has brought together CEOS agencies under the theme of Unlocking EO for Society. It includes a dedicated “CEOS in Schools” initiative that will culminate in an international youth event focusing on EO to help unlock the future EO workforce at the 2025 CEOS Plenary in November in Bath, United Kingdom.

CEOS remains committed to contributing to the priorities, goals, and objectives of GEO, and welcomes ongoing structured dialogue with the GEO community. Our leadership succession in November 2025 will transition the CEOS Chair from the UK Space Agency to an Australian Chair Team: the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Bureau of Meteorology, and Geoscience Australia. CEOS looks forward to continuing mutual collaboration with GEO across multiple domains that include the GEO flagships, initiatives, and other enabling mechanisms.