Abstract: Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) heaters generate high-enthalpy and ultra-clean plasma flows through electromagnetic coupling discharge, showing significant value in the research of thermal protection materials (TPMs) for hypersonic vehicles. This paper systematically reviews the research progress of ICP heaters in four core aspects: theoretical modelling and numerical simulation, facility development, parameter diagnostics and engineering applications. The theoretical analysis has evolved from simplified one-dimensional models to self-consistent multi-dimensional models, and numerical simulations have been synchronously improved, playing a key role in investigating transport processes and non-equilibrium characteristics inside heaters. Worldwide, a series of ICP facilities with power ranging from tens of kilowatts to megawatt levels have been developed. Based on contact measurements and optical diagnostics, the macro-parameters (e.g., heat flux, electron number density) and micro-characteristics (e.g., electron temperature, translational temperature, species concentration) both inside the heater and its plasma jet are revealed. ICP heaters can stably provide a thermal environment with enthalpy up to nearly 100 MJ/kg under sub-atmospheric pressure for long-duration testing, which is widely used in studying surface catalysis, ablation behavior, and gas-solid coupling reaction mechanisms of various TPMs, providing scientific basis and experimental support for the design and performance evaluation of advanced TPMs.