With the development of space technology, the aircraft flight speed is much higher and the service environment is even worse. The effective thermal protection system is one of the key systems to ensure the safety of aircraft flight. In this paper, the application status of passive thermal protection system, active thermal protection system and semi-passive thermal protection system on the aerospace vehicles are reviewed. And the application and development of five kinds of thermal protection material in the aerospace field, including metal matrix composites, carbon based materials, ceramic matrix composites, resin matrix composites and aerogel materials are mainly introduced. Finally the future developments of the thermal protection for aerospace vehicles are prospected.