Satellite-borne remote sensing is a type of information technology that retrieves the physical characteristics of the environment/targets via scattering and radiative transfer by electromagnetic waves. A series of novel information trends for fine quantitative retrievals have emerged with the advancements of high-resolution remote sensing technology with multi-mission

multi-frequency

multi-polarization

multi-source

and multi-mode characteristics. This paper presents a general profile of the research progress during recent decades.It includes a discussion of vector radiative transfer theory of natural media and satellite-borne microwave remote sensing CAL/VAL

electromagnetic scattering theory and fully polarimetric multi-mode SAR imagery

high-resolution monitoring and ATR technology

and extraplanetary remote sensing（e.g.

Moon and Mars）.