Antarctica, Arctic and Qinghai Tibet Plateau are known as the three poles of the earth. The " tri-polar" regions, which are undergoing great changes, are not only the key areas affecting the study of global climate change, but also the important strategic special areas to protect national security interests. Compared with other polar satellites, it has obvious advantages in obtaining high-precision 3D earth surface information. In order to meet the needs of remote sensing observation and research in the "tri-polar" region under the new situation, based on the laser altimetry satellite, the status of the existing laser altimetry satellites in polar observation was summarized. The observation requirements in polar region were analyzed, and the observable elements of laser altimetry satellite in polar region were discussed. Moreover, the development of laser altimetry satellite for polar observation in China was proposed, the preliminary ideas and prospects for the future construction of polar remote sensing satellite observation system were discussed.