Abstract:
A non-geosynchronous satellite system, where each satellite has an antenna (perhaps a multi-element antenna) to form a beam pattern comprising a set of beams in the footprint of the satellite, where in one implementation each beam is substantially elliptical in shape having a minor axis and a major axis, where the minor axes are substantially collinear and the major axes are substantially oriented east to west. For a satellite, power is reduced or turned off for a subset of the set of beams, wherein each beam in the subset is reduced at or below a corresponding power level such that when a beam is powered above its corresponding power level an equivalent power flux-density (EPFD) exceeds a limit at some point on the Earth's surface.