Abstract: For vacuum switches used in space environments, it is possible to eliminate the sealing structures and ancillary vacuum pumping equipment required in artificial environments, effectively reducing the volume and weight. They have the inherent advantages of a vacuum environment, no need for sealing, high insulation strength, and fast recovery speed, making them highly potential for application in space environments. Firstly, it is systemically introduced the research advances of vacuum switches domestic and overseas. And it is analyzed and compared the operating characteristics of various types of vacuum switches. Especially, the emphasis is put on the summary of the conduction mechanism of self-breakdown flashover vacuum switch and trigger vacuum switch. Secondly, it is analyzed the application research of cold cathode materials. Thirdly, it is summarized the research advances on cold cathode vacuum switch in National University of Defense Technology. Finally, it is discussed the development trend of the cold cathode vacuum switch. Research results lay a solid technical foundation for the application of pulse power driving source in space environment.