Patent ID: 11916654
Assignee: HUGHES NETWORK SYSTEMS, LLC
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 13:
14. A satellite communication system comprising:
a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation with a plurality of MEO satellites;
a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation with a plurality of LEO satellites;
wherein the plurality of MEO satellites and the plurality of LEO satellites are configured to support a MEO-LEO satellite link that allows communication between a MEO satellite in the MEO constellation and a LEO satellite in the LEO constellation;
a first user terminal communicating with a first LEO satellite and a second LEO satellite communicating with a second user terminal located at a geographical location remote from that of the first user terminal;
a direct user terminal to user terminal security association that supports sending encrypted data directly from the first user terminal to the second user terminal with a private key; wherein:
the plurality of MEO satellites and the LEO satellite further comprise an MEO-LEO link for communicating with a satellite in another constellation; and
the satellite communication system provides a non-terrestrial communication path directly from the first user terminal to the second user terminal by communications between the first and second LEO satellites in the LEO constellation and the MEO satellite in the MEO constellation.