Doppler orbitography uses the Doppler shift in a transmitted signal to determine the orbital parameters of satellites including range and range rate (or radial velocity). We describe two techniques for atmospheric-limited optical Doppler orbitography measurements of range rate.

The transfer of high-precision optical frequency signals over free-space links, particularly between ground stations and satellites, will enable advances in fields ranging from coherent optical communications and satellite Doppler ranging to tests of General Relativity and fundamental physics.