A satellite (1502, 3403) for providing communications between a plurality of access nodes and a plurality of user terminals, the plurality of access nodes geographically distributed over at least one access node coverage area and the plurality of user terminals geographically distributed over a user coverage area, the satellite comprising: a feeder-link antenna subsystem configured to illuminate the plurality of access nodes, wherein the feeder-link antenna subsystem comprises a plurality of cooperating feeder-link constituent transmit elements and a plurality of cooperating feeder-link constituent receive elements; a user-link antenna subsystem configured to illuminate the user coverage area, wherein the user-link antenna subsystem comprises a plurality of cooperating user-link constituent transmit elements and a plurality of cooperating user-link constituent receive elements; a first plurality of forward-link transponders, each coupled between a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements and a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements, the first plurality of forward-link transponders being configured to receive first forward composite uplink signals over a first frequency range and being configured to output first forward composite downlink signals over a second frequency range; and a second plurality of forward-link transponders, each coupled between a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements and a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements, the second plurality of forward-link transponders being configured to receive second forward composite uplink signals over a third frequency range and being configured to output second forward composite downlink signals over the second frequency range, wherein each of the first forward composite uplink signals is a respective superposition of a first plurality of forward uplink signals (521, 6440a) transmitted by access nodes of the plurality of access nodes over the first frequency range, each of the second forward composite uplink signals is a respective superposition of a second plurality of forward uplink signals (521, 6440b) transmitted by access nodes of the plurality of access nodes over the third frequency range, and the third frequency range is non-overlapping with the first frequency range, wherein the user-link constituent transmit elements are configured to transmit the first forward composite downlink signals and the second forward composite downlink signals such that they superpose to contribute to forming a user beam. a feeder-link antenna subsystem configured to illuminate the plurality of access nodes, wherein the feeder-link antenna subsystem comprises a plurality of cooperating feeder-link constituent transmit elements and a plurality of cooperating feeder-link constituent receive elements; a user-link antenna subsystem configured to illuminate the user coverage area, wherein the user-link antenna subsystem comprises a plurality of cooperating user-link constituent transmit elements and a plurality of cooperating user-link constituent receive elements; a first plurality of forward-link transponders, each coupled between a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements and a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements, the first plurality of forward-link transponders being configured to receive first forward composite uplink signals over a first frequency range and being configured to output first forward composite downlink signals over a second frequency range; and a second plurality of forward-link transponders, each coupled between a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements and a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements, the second plurality of forward-link transponders being configured to receive second forward composite uplink signals over a third frequency range and being configured to output second forward composite downlink signals over the second frequency range, wherein each of the first forward composite uplink signals is a respective superposition of a first plurality of forward uplink signals (521, 6440a) transmitted by access nodes of the plurality of access nodes over the first frequency range, each of the second forward composite uplink signals is a respective superposition of a second plurality of forward uplink signals (521, 6440b) transmitted by access nodes of the plurality of access nodes over the third frequency range, and the third frequency range is non-overlapping with the first frequency range, wherein the user-link constituent transmit elements are configured to transmit the first forward composite downlink signals and the second forward composite downlink signals such that they superpose to contribute to forming a user beam.