Abstract: Cryogenic balance is the key measurement in cryogenic wind tunnel. Due to low air temperature and large temperature variation in the cryogenic wind tunnel, a series of problems arise, such as thermal zero drift and the variation of sensitivity. Therefore there is a risk of decreasing precision of the test data. Thus compared to conventional balances, the development of the cryogenic balance has more requirements and difficulties. By a wide literature survey, the key elements of cryogenic balance are sorted out as follows:design and optimization of balance, material selection and thermal treatment, processing and manufacturing of balance, matching of strain gauge, moisture treatment of balance at low ambient temperature, balance calibration algorithm as well as calibration apparatus and data acquisition equipment. A prospect of the cryogenic balance technologies is also given. The research results presented in this paper are of reference value for development and engineering application of cryogenic balance.