An Australian collaboration made up of the CSIRO, Geoscience Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology will hold the position of Chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites for 2026.
The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), which was established in 1984, acts as “as the primary forum for international coordination of space-based Earth observations” and “through major investments made by its member Agencies, continues to provide space-based data in support of civil Earth observation efforts worldwide”.
The organisation’s membership comprises more than 60 space agencies and related bodies, which together are responsible for operating more than 150 satellites.
Australia officially took the helm from the previous Chair, the UK Space Agency, during the 39th CEOS Plenary held earlier this month.
The Chair Team will be led by CSIRO’s Dr Alex Held and will undertake activities according to the overall theme of ‘Positioning CEOS for Success in a Rapidly Changing Context’.
Two of the main activities to tackled during 2026 are actioning the organisation’s support for environmental adaptation and resilience, and progressing the Future CEOS Analysis Ready Data Strategy.
According to CEOS, the organisation is “lowering technical barriers for use of these [EO] 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.”
At this month’s 39th CEOS Plenary, CEOS and the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) issued a join statement which, among other things, identified six high priority research areas for which satellite observations are essential:
- Measuring and analysing Earth’s energy imbalance;
- Monitoring land cover, forest structure, agriculture and ecosystems;
- Quantifying ice loss and glacier retreat;
- Measuring and projecting sea level rise;
- Measuring atmospheric composition; and
- Enhancing early warning and response
“The past decade has seen unprecedented advancements in satellite remote sensing capabilities, enabling scientific breakthroughs and informing global decision-makers about Earth system processes,” the two bodies said in their statement.
“As challenges facing our planet grow more complex, international collaboration and sustained investment in satellite Earth observation systems are essential to expanding knowledge, guiding adaptation, and enabling effective responses.”
The 40th CEOS Plenary will be held in Hobart in November 2026.
