Taking different requirements for image motion detection as orientation, the development of image motion detection methods is traced, and the whole detection process of image motion is clarified as three stages: image motion calculation based on engineering parameters, image motion estimation based on joint optical correlators, and image motion detection based on remote sensing images. For each stage, the existing solved problems and the remaining technical bottlenecks are analyzed objectively. In combination with the development trend of space cameras, three pivotal scientific problems that need to be solved in the existing image motion detection methods are deeply analyzed. This study provides a possible research thought for wide-band image motion detection.