The design and application of hydrostatic bearings in liquid rocket engine turbopumps was concerned.The design method of hydrostatic bearings for a turbopump rotor,which is originally designed supported by rolling bearings,was proposed.The design schemes of hydrostatic bearings with maximized stiffness were obtained using the particle swarm optimization algorithm.The performance of the hydrostatic bearings and the rotor dynamic characteristics of the rotor-bearing system were analyzed.The results show that the load capacity and stiffness of the optimized hydrostatic bearings can meet the requirements of the turbopump rotor.However,the total mass flow rate of the bearings is up to 21% of the pump flow rate,which will significantly lower the overall efficiency of the turbopump.The stability of the rotor-bearing system can not meet the requirements only by replacing the rolling bearings with hydrostatic bearings without other improvements.In the design of hydrostatic bearing rotor system,the bearing should be placed at the position where the rotor has larger displacement,so as to give full play to its damping effect.