In recent years, flexible foil bearings have shown great potential in the application of high-speed turbomachinery. In order to obtain the high bearing capacity, reduce the friction and wear during the start-stop process, and improve the high-speed stability of the bearings,a large number of theoretical, experimental and applied studies have carried out.The research progress of gas elastic foil bearing was reviewed from three aspects,such as the structural characteristics, coating characteristics and modeling methods.Firstly,from the perspective of bearing structure optimization, the development process of foil bearing structure improvement and the advantages of multi-leaf lap elastic dynamic pressure foil bearing with novel structural design were introduced.Then, from the perspective of reducing the friction force during the start and stop phases of the bearing and improving the service life of the elastic foil bearing, the widely used coatings were compared and analyzed, and the application conditions and friction reduction effects of new lubricants at home and abroad were summarized.Finally,from the perspective of bearing modeling,a variety of models including simple elastic models and complex models that consider factors such as friction and separation between foils were introduced,which provides a basis for subsequent model construction and performance analysis.The prospect of elastic foil bearing being in advanced and sophisticated fields was prospected, and the research direction of elastic foil bearing was suggested.