In this paper, the research status and development tendency of star tracker technique are reviewed.Firstly, the development process of star tracker at home and abroad is summarized.Then, key techniques such as star centroid algorithm, star recognition algorithm and attitude determination algorithm are summarized respectively based on the working principle of star tracker.Based on the influence of star centroid localization precision on measurement precision of star tracker, the research status of star centroid localization algorithm and the corresponding error compensation are discussed.According to the constellation characteristics, character models and intelligent behavior, the star map recognition algorithm is introduced and the comparative analysis is developed.According to the determined attitude determination algorithm and dynamic attitude determination algorithm, the research status of attitude determination algorithm is discussed.Finally, the future development of star tracker is prospected, and the development trend and key research contents in the future of airborne star tracker, micro star tracker and super high precision star tracker are discussed.