Satellite beam switching

A switching module for automatic selective switching of a terminal from a current SA network to a target SA network in a satellite communication system, the switching module comprising:

• a communication module;
• a control module connected to said communication module;
• wherein the communication module is configured to receive, from a plurality of SA networks within the satellite communication system including each of the current SA network and each respective one of at least one candidate target SA network, measurement data indicative of the suitability of the candidate target SA network as the target SA network;
• wherein the control module is configured to:
• identify a need for switching the terminal from the current SA network to another SA network based on predefined switching trigger conditions;
• identify at least one candidate target SA network from among the plurality of SA networks;
• retrieve, via the communication module, for the current SA network and for each respective one of the at least one candidate target SA networks, measurement data indicative of suitability of the candidate target SA network as target SA network;
• selecting, based on said measurement data, the target SA network from among the current SA network and the one or more candidate target SA networks;
• wherein the measurement data comprises network status information relating to the star network defined by said SA network;
• and
• wherein the network status information comprises at least one of:
• network congestion information indicative of a congestion level of the respective SA networks, physical link conditions of the respective SA networks, beam footprint of the respective SA networks.