Abstract: The heat pipe technology sees wide and important applications in spacecraft temperature equalization, heat transfer, heat rejection and thermal control of electronic components. This paper discusses the working principle, the classification and other important factors of the heat pipe used in the thermal control field. The research advances in the spacecraft thermal control of the heat pipe technology are reviewed. Suggestions of the developing directions of the heat pipe technology are made. It is shown that the development of the new heat pipe technology and the enhancement of the heat transfer capability of the heat pipe will be the research emphasis in future.