FIELD: satellite communications.
SUBSTANCE: each satellite in the fleet can have one or more dynamically configurable routes, and switching and/or beamforming can be used to configure each route as a forward channel route or a reverse channel route in each of the number of time intervals according to route configuration scheme; wherein at least some of the routes may additionally be selectively configured in each time interval to carry “Earth-to-Satellite link” traffic to and/or from ground terminals and “Satellite-to-Earth link” traffic to and/or from one or several other fleet satellites.
EFFECT: facilitating the flexible throughput of the forward channel and reverse channel in a satellite communication system.
15 cl, 21 dwg, 1 tbl
