Orbiting just 250 km above the surface of the Earth, GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) is the first Core Earth Explorer mission to be developed within ESA's Living Planet Programme. GOCE will provide the dataset required to accurately determine global and regional models of the Earth's gravity field and geoid, which will advance research in the areas of ocean circulation, physics of the Earth's interior, sea-level change and also make significant advances in the field of geodesy and surveying.