Various aspects of the disclosure relate to handoff (e.g., idle mode handoff or other types of handoff) for a user terminal. In some aspects, a user terminal (UT) may request idle mode handoff information from a ground network (GN). Idle mode handoff information may include, for example, start times for a set of satellites, whereby each particular start time indicates when the UT may handoff to the corresponding satellite. The UT may send the request for idle mode handoff information to the GN when the UT has a defined number of valid entries (e.g., one unexpired entry) remaining in an idle mode handoff table. In some aspects, the idle UT may send the request for idle mode handoff information to the GN based on a time associated with a particular entry in an idle mode handoff table or based on a time of validity of an idle mode handoff table.