Abstract: Spherical robots have great potential in deep space exploration tasks such as surface exploration on planets.In this paper, the configuration of spherical robot is introduced firstly from the structure characteristics of spherical shell.Then, the driving modes of spherical robot are divided into 4 categories: rolling drive, jumping drive, flying drive and hybrid drive. The specific driving methods and principles of each driving method are introduced and summarized. Then, the key technologies of spherical robots are introduced to provide reference for their application to surface exploration on planets.Finally, the research progress of spherical robots for surface exploration on planets is summarized, and the future trends are prospected.