A beamforming system (500, 1200, 3400) comprising: a plurality of geographically-distributed access nodes; a relay (503, 1202, 3403) provided on a satellite, the relay comprising: an array of feeder-link constituent receive elements (406, 3416); an array of user-link constituent transmit elements (409, 3429); and a plurality of transponders (410, 3430), each coupled between a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements and a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements; a forward beam weight generator configured to supply computed forward beam weights for a plurality of forward multipath channels that couple the plurality of geographically-distributed access nodes with a user terminal in a forward user beam coverage area via the plurality of transponders (410, 3430) of the relay (503, 1202, 3403) provided on the satellite; and a forward beamformer (513, 529, 3006) configured to generate a plurality of forward uplink signals by applying the forward beam weights to a forward beam signal, such that each forward uplink signal is unique to a respective one of the access nodes, wherein each of the plurality of geographically-distributed access nodes is configured to transmit the respective forward uplink signal unique to the respective access node in a time-synchronized manner, wherein each of the plurality of transponders is configured to: receive a respective composite input forward signal from the plurality of access nodes via a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements, each respective composite input forward signal comprising a superposition of the plurality of forward uplink signals; and transmit a respective forward downlink signal corresponding to the respective composite input forward signal via a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements, such that the forward downlink signals superpose to form a forward user beam. a plurality of geographically-distributed access nodes; a relay (503, 1202, 3403) provided on a satellite, the relay comprising: an array of feeder-link constituent receive elements (406, 3416); an array of user-link constituent transmit elements (409, 3429); and a plurality of transponders (410, 3430), each coupled between a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements and a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements; an array of feeder-link constituent receive elements (406, 3416); an array of user-link constituent transmit elements (409, 3429); and a plurality of transponders (410, 3430), each coupled between a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements and a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements; a forward beam weight generator configured to supply computed forward beam weights for a plurality of forward multipath channels that couple the plurality of geographically-distributed access nodes with a user terminal in a forward user beam coverage area via the plurality of transponders (410, 3430) of the relay (503, 1202, 3403) provided on the satellite; and a forward beamformer (513, 529, 3006) configured to generate a plurality of forward uplink signals by applying the forward beam weights to a forward beam signal, such that each forward uplink signal is unique to a respective one of the access nodes, wherein each of the plurality of geographically-distributed access nodes is configured to transmit the respective forward uplink signal unique to the respective access node in a time-synchronized manner, wherein each of the plurality of transponders is configured to: receive a respective composite input forward signal from the plurality of access nodes via a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements, each respective composite input forward signal comprising a superposition of the plurality of forward uplink signals; and transmit a respective forward downlink signal corresponding to the respective composite input forward signal via a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements, such that the forward downlink signals superpose to form a forward user beam. receive a respective composite input forward signal from the plurality of access nodes via a respective one of the feeder-link constituent receive elements, each respective composite input forward signal comprising a superposition of the plurality of forward uplink signals; and transmit a respective forward downlink signal corresponding to the respective composite input forward signal via a respective one of the user-link constituent transmit elements, such that the forward downlink signals superpose to form a forward user beam.