Wind sensing with Doppler lidar is recognized as having high potential to complement the future Global Observing System GOS for obtaining vertical profiles of the atmospheric wind vector in clear and partly cloudy scenes. During the Atlantic THORPEX Regional Campaign (A-TReC) in autumn 2003, an airborne Doppler lidar was used to observe wind in predicted sensitive regions. Wind lidar and collocated dropsonde observations made on 8 flights during a 2 weeks period were assimilated into the global model of ECMWF. Results of impact studies on analysis and forecast skills will be presented. These encouraging results demonstrate the operational potential of this measurement technique. A first space demonstration mission is planned for launch in fall 2008 with the Atmospheric Dynamics Mission ADM-Aeolus of the European Space Agency ESA. Some recent results of the mission and instrument development status of ADM-Aeolus will be presented.