Based on the optical transmission theory in atmospheric turbulence, approximate analytical expressions of light beam long-term extension and short-term drift which are suitable for Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence and intermittent atmospheric turbulence are obtained when we use the She model of intermittent turbulence, and the She model is close to the actual atmospheric turbulence. Combining with the laser ranging equation, the numbers of ranging return photon from low orbit satellite, high orbit satellite and moon are calculated by Matlab software. The influence of atmospheric turbulence intermittency on return photon number in laser ranging is analyzed. Results show that the larger the turbulence intermittency is, the larger the ranging return photon number is. The ratio of return photon number in the case of with intermittent atmospheric turbulence to that of without atmospheric turbulence is about 1/20.