The high radiation intensity and weak self-absorption effect of the O₂(a¹?_g) airglow in the 1.27 μm band make it an ideal target source for retrieval of the atmospheric temperature in the near-space. Based on the theory of O₂ airglow spectral and the "onion-peeling" algorithm, the near-infrared limb-viewing data of the SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY) were successfully used to retrieve the atmospheric temperature profiles in the range of 50-100 km. Comparison with SABER, ACE-FTS and LIDAR observations shows that the temperature measurement error is better than ±10 K in the tangential altitude of 55-85 km. However, in the space region below 55 km and above 85 km, the temperature retrieval results show significant bias due to the influences of self-absorption effects, atmospheric scattering, and spectral contamination from OH airglow.