In one embodiment, an earthbound transceiver in a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network establishes a connection with a first LEO satellite from a first set of LEO satellites. The first set of LEO satellites are distributed across a first plurality of orbits including first neighboring LEO satellites of the first LEO satellite, and the first neighboring LEO satellites have a fixed or semi-fixed position relative to the first LEO satellite. The earthbound transceiver determines first signal strength values associated with the first set of LEO satellites and second signal strength values associated with a second set of LEO satellites. The earthbound transceiver then periodically compares the first signal strength values to the second signal strength values. At an optimal handoff time, the earthbound transceiver initiates the handoff operation from the first LEO satellite to a second LEO satellite from the second set of LEO satellites.