A satellite communications system (100, 200, 700, 800) comprising: a plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals; a forward beamformer configured to apply beam-weighting to a plurality of forward data streams to generate L beam-weighted forward signals, each of the L beam-weighted forward signals being generated to correspond to a respective one of a plurality of forward-link pathways of a satellite, the forward beamformer configured to communicate each of the L beam-weighted forward signals to a respective one of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals via a distribution network; and a synchronization subsystem configured to mutually phase-synchronize uplink signals from the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals, wherein each of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals is configured to operate at a same carrier frequency, and each of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals comprises: a beam-weighted forward signal input in communication with the forward beamformer via the distribution network, the beam-weighted forward signal input configured to receive a respective one of the L beam-weighted forward signals from the forward beamformer via the distribution network; a synchronization input coupled with the synchronization subsystem; and a feeder uplink signal output configured to output a respective phase-synchronized version of the respective one of the L beam-weighted forward signals received by the respective beam-weighted forward signal input in accordance with the respective synchronization input, the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals thereby being configured to generate L beam-weighted, mutually phase-synchronized forward uplink signals, each of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals being configured to transmit a respective one of the L beam-weighted, mutually phase-synchronized forward uplink signals to the satellite. a plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals; a forward beamformer configured to apply beam-weighting to a plurality of forward data streams to generate L beam-weighted forward signals, each of the L beam-weighted forward signals being generated to correspond to a respective one of a plurality of forward-link pathways of a satellite, the forward beamformer configured to communicate each of the L beam-weighted forward signals to a respective one of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals via a distribution network; and a synchronization subsystem configured to mutually phase-synchronize uplink signals from the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals, wherein each of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals is configured to operate at a same carrier frequency, and each of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals comprises: a beam-weighted forward signal input in communication with the forward beamformer via the distribution network, the beam-weighted forward signal input configured to receive a respective one of the L beam-weighted forward signals from the forward beamformer via the distribution network; a synchronization input coupled with the synchronization subsystem; and a feeder uplink signal output configured to output a respective phase-synchronized version of the respective one of the L beam-weighted forward signals received by the respective beam-weighted forward signal input in accordance with the respective synchronization input, a beam-weighted forward signal input in communication with the forward beamformer via the distribution network, the beam-weighted forward signal input configured to receive a respective one of the L beam-weighted forward signals from the forward beamformer via the distribution network; a synchronization input coupled with the synchronization subsystem; and a feeder uplink signal output configured to output a respective phase-synchronized version of the respective one of the L beam-weighted forward signals received by the respective beam-weighted forward signal input in accordance with the respective synchronization input, the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals thereby being configured to generate L beam-weighted, mutually phase-synchronized forward uplink signals, each of the plurality of geographically distributed gateway terminals being configured to transmit a respective one of the L beam-weighted, mutually phase-synchronized forward uplink signals to the satellite.