Abstract: The atomic oxygen is one of the most important space environments in the LEO space, which could damage the thermal control materials and the components of the spacecraft due to its huge erosion effect. This paper studies the atomic oxygen and its effect on the LEO thermal control coatings including white paint, black paint, organic colored paint, polymer film, coated fabric, and second surface mirror, and advances some reasonable proposals for the long term LEO mission design such as for the space station of China.