Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO_2) is a primary greenhouse gas,whose concentration and geographic distribution are the key points in global change research. Since 1998,space-based observation has been an important technique for the remote sensing of CO_2 concentration. We present an overview of the advances in space-based remote sensing of CO_2,including the development of remote sensors and inverse algorithms, as well as the calibration of retrieved results. We analyze the uncertainties in inverse methods from observations of both thermal infrared and shortwave infrared techniques. The potential development of CO_2 retrieval is discussed at the end of this paper.