A satellite communication system includes at least one base station, at least one satellite that can be brought into communication connection with the base station for data transmission, and a plurality of receivers adapted to receive signals transmitted from the satellite. The communication system is designed to transmit data in at least one uplink data stream from the base station to the satellite with a first data transmission rate and to transmit data in at least one downlink data stream from the satellite to the receivers with a second data transmission rate. The first data transmission rate is lower than the second data transmission rate and the satellite is provided with a data storage adapted to store the data transmitted from the base station to the satellite and to supply the data provided for the transmission to the receivers.