Since EOS XVIII in August 2013, new Earth Observing missions have launched or are near launch; many missions have continued successful on-orbit operation; and plans for future missions have been formulated and/or refined. On February 11, 2013, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) successfully launched from Vandenburg AFB, California. On May 30, 2013, LDCM was operationally handed over to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and was officially renamed Landsat-8. The Total Solar Irradiance Calibration Transfer Experiment (TCTE) will be launched in late 2013 to provide a bridge between total solar irradiance measurements currently made by the SORCE mission and those to be made by the future Total Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS). NASA missions planned for launch in the 2014/2015 timeframe include the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), the Global Precipitation Mission-Core Observatory (GPM-CORE), the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III), and the Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) mission. NASA is also scheduled to launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) for NOAA. ESA missions planned for launch in 2014/2015 include Sentinel-1, -2, and -3 and the Meteosat Second Generation-4 (MSG-4). Near-term JAXA missions include the Global Change Observation Mission-Carbon1 (GCOM-C1) and the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2). In 2014, the Japan Meteorological Agency plans to launch the operational Himawari-8 satellite. Lastly, international joint agency missions slated for launch in the next 2 years include, but are not limited to, the ESA/JAXA EarthCARE mission and the JAXA/NASA GPM-Core missions. Space agencies continue the operation of many of their extended missions. For example, extended NASA missions currently include the Earth Observing System (EOS)Terra, Aqua, and Aura missions, the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM), the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) mission, the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), the Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor Satellite (ACRIMSAT), the ocean winds Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT), and the CloudSat mission. The NASA Aquarius instrument on board the Argentine SAC-D satellite continues its measurements of global sea surface salinity. NASA and NOAA continue their intensive calibration, validation, and data product commissioning efforts on the joint Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) mission launched in October 2011. The JAXA Global Change Observation Mission-Water1 (GCOM-W1) continues its on-orbit operation as a member of the “A-Train” series of satellites. JAXA continues the Greenhouse gas Observation SATellite (GOSAT), while the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) continues to operate its Multifunctional Transport Satellites (MTSAT-1R and -2). The ESA-EUMETSAT Metop-A and B satellites continue to operate as part of ESA-EUMETSAT’s Polar System (EPS). EUMETSAT continues operation of its MSG-3 Meteosat-10 satellite, which was successfully launched in July 2012, in addition to Meteosat 7 through 9. ESA continues its operation of the PRoject for On-Board Autonomy-1 (PROBA-1), Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS), and the CryoSat-2 Earth Explorer Opportunity Mission. International joint agency missions under extended operation include, but are not limited to, the NASA and CNES Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission and the EUMETSAT, CNES, NASA, and NOAA JASON ocean surface topography missions. Space agencies have also refined and formulated plans for missions beyond 2015. For example, in response to the U.S. National Research Council's Decadal Survey on Earth Science and Applications from Space, several NASA missions are in the pre-formulation or formulation stages. Also in response to the Decadal Survey, plans for Earth Venture (EV) full-orbital missions, sub-orbital missions and instruments are also being formulated. NOAA and NASA are engaged in extensive instrument, spacecraft and data system activities in preparation for the 2017 launch of the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) J1 platform, the first follow-on mission to S-NPP. ESA and EUMETSAT continue their instrument formulation and launch planning for their future Earth Explorers and follow-on Sentinel Missions, Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), and EPS programs. Lastly, commercial and governmental groups from around the globe are developing relatively low-cost Earth-viewing missions, sensors, and technologies via instrument incubator and advanced technology programs. Many of these missions and projects have resulted or will result in the design, development, and testing of heritage and/or new generations of remote sensing systems which will be the subject of EOS XIX in August 2014. In addition, topics from past, current, and future EOS missions in China will be included in this conference.