  We report a search for new gravitational physics phenomena based on
Einstein-Cartan theory of General Relativity including spacetime torsion.
Starting from the parametrized torsion framework of Mao, Tegmark, Guth and
Cabi, we analyze the motion of test bodies in the presence of torsion, and in
particular we compute the corrections to the perihelion advance and to the
orbital geodetic precession of a satellite. We describe the torsion field by
means of three parameters, and we make use of the autoparallel trajectories,
which in general may differ from geodesics when torsion is present. We derive
the equations of motion of a test body in a spherically symmetric field, and
the equations of motion of a satellite in the gravitational field of the Sun
and the Earth. We calculate the secular variations of the longitudes of the
node and of the pericenter of the satellite. The computed secular variations
show how the corrections to the perihelion advance and to the orbital de Sitter
effect depend on the torsion parameters. All computations are performed under
the assumptions of weak field and slow motion. To test our predictions, we use
the measurements of the Moon geodetic precession from lunar laser ranging data,
and the measurements of Mercury's perihelion advance from planetary radar
ranging data. These measurements are then used to constrain suitable linear
combinations of the torsion parameters.
