Significance Largescale, integrated, lightweight, and highprecision structures are becoming crucial trends in the development of aerospace equipment. Laser directed energy deposition (LDED) technology, with its high forming efficiency, flexible material feeding methods, and extensive freedom in shaping, proves to be highly suitable for the evolving trends in aerospace equipment development.It has gained significant traction in sectors such as launch vehicles, manned spacecraft, and rocket engines, positioning the aerospace industry as a key driver in the development and application of LDED technology. However, the current progress in LDED additive manufacturing technology is not adequately aligned with industry needs. This misalignment leads to underutilization of its technical advantages, vague directions for technological development, and limited application scenarios and fields. To expedite the technology s industrialization and intelligent evolution, and to achieve largescale, systematic applications, it is essential to review and document the current research and application advancements of LDED for largescale metal in aerospace. This involves examining material research, process development, and application progress, and identifying future directions for LDED technology.Progress In recent years, significant breakthroughs have been made in the LDED process for aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, nickelbased superalloys, and their composites. The introduction of rare earth elements, such as Sc and Zr, for microalloying modifications and the addition of nanoparticles address challenges such as hot cracking, excessive defects, and the limitations of a single strengthening mechanism that leads to insufficient performance in aluminum alloys. This advancement enables the preparation of various highdensity and highperformance aluminum alloy materials, including