Flexible capacity satellite constellation

A satellite system for use in a multi-satellite constellation for providing a communications network, the multi-satellite constellation comprising a plurality of non-geosynchronous satellites, the system comprising:

• an antenna system comprising a plurality of feeds to generate a plurality of fixed spot beams, including first and second terra-link beams and a cross-link beam;
• a bent-pipe pathway associated with the plurality of fixed spot beams;
• a memory coupled with the bent-pipe pathway and having a pathway configuration schedule stored thereon;
• and
• a pathway configuration system to sequentially configure the bent-pipe pathway in each of a plurality of timeslots to form a signal path between a selected pair of the fixed spot beams via corresponding feeds of the plurality of feeds according to the pathway configuration schedule to account for movement of the multi-satellite constellation over time with respect to a plurality of terrestrial terminals according to the pathway configuration schedule,
• such that the bent-pipe pathway is configured in a first timeslot to establish connectivity between the first and second terra-link beams, and the bent-pipe pathway is configured in a second timeslot to establish connectivity between the first terra-link beam and the cross-link beam.