Abstract: A self-developed project requires high thermal stabiblity for optical terminals of laser communication payloads. In this paper, the thermal control design and experimental verification on laser communication payloads of the project was carried out. The temperature of the key optical terminal components such as primary mirror, secondary mirror, and rotary motor was controlled within a stability range of ±1 ℃/30 min by using distributed local thermal control and active & passive thermal control methods, with considerations of space environment of the payloads, multi-space layout structure of the payloads themselves, and dispersed distribution of heat sources. Thus, the function and performance of the laser communication payloads was effectively realized.