The present article considers modern methods of forming thermal barrier coatings designed to extend the service life of elements of gas turbine installations and engines exposed to combustion products. The characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of atmospheric plasma spraying (APS), electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD), suspension plasma spraying (SPS) and solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), magnetron sputtering (MS-PVD) are noted. The characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the used and promising compositions of thermal barrier coatings developed for use at operating gas temperatures above 1,300°C are considered. It is shown that today the development of thermal barrier coatings is possible due to the improvement of technological processes of their formation and the development of new compositions with a modified multilayer gradient structure consisting of rare earth metal oxides.