Abstract: The eastern coal mining area is widely characterized by a typical “thick loose layer − thin bedrock” overburden structure. Intensive deep mining in this area is prone to induce multi-scale coupling effects such as spatial deformation of the overburden, compaction of the loose layer, and surface subsidence, which pose a continuous threat to the safety of construction land in the mining area, the stability of the water-bearing system, and the surface ecological pattern. Therefore, revealing the deformation stratified response laws among the overburden, loose layer, and surface through detection and monitoring methods is an important research content. In combination with the geological conditions of the eastern mining area, the development of surface, underground, and space-air coordinated monitoring technologies for overburden spatial deformation during coal seam mining is explained and analyzed. Existing deficiencies in terms of deformation monitoring data, evaluation, and early warning are also pointed out. Further development considerations for overburden spatial deformation monitoring are proposed from aspects such as monitoring mode, monitoring method, data inversion, and control strategy, which can provide technical references for the integrated research of mining-deformation-vegetation-ecology and green mining under thick loose layer conditions.