Owing to the high melting point, high hardness, abrasion resistance, anti-corrosion, stable high temperature properties and many other features, thermal spraying of Mo and Mo-based composite coatings is widely used in the production of mechanical parts and surface repairing. With the on-going promotion of sustainable development strategy which combines the effective use of resources and machinery products remanufacturing, these coatings will have more broad application. The research introduced the development and application status of thermal spraying of Mo and Mo-based composite coating at home and abroad. Based on the development of thermal spraying technology, the preparing mechanism, performance and problems of Mo and Mo base composite coatings prepared by flame spraying (common flame spraying, HVOF), plasma spraying (SAPS, MPS and LPPS) and electrothermal explosion spraying were summarized respectively. The application prospects of thermal spraying of Mo and Mo-based composite coating in the high-tech fields such as new-conception weapons and aerospace industry were also introduced. On expansion of the application scope of Mo and Mo-based composite coatings in severer working conditions such as depleted oil, high temperature and high speed friction, high temperature corrosion and oxidation, some key aspects of the material component design and process optimization study of future thermal spraying of Mo and Mo-based composite coatings were pointed out based on the development trend of thermal spraying technology.