Patent ID: 7006789

Claim:
A space-based network for a satellite radiotelephone system comprising: at least one receive-only satellite that is configured to receive wireless communications from a radiotelephone at a predetermined location over a satellite frequency band; and at least one transmit satellite that is configured to transmit wireless communications to the radiotelephone at the predetermined location over the satellite frequency band; wherein each of the receive-only satellites comprises first and second receive antennas; and wherein each of the receive-only satellites further comprises first through fourth processors, the first processor being configured to process wireless communications that are received by the first receive-only antenna in a first polarization, the second processor being configured to process wireless communications that are received by the first receive-only antenna in a second polarization, the third processor being configured to process wireless communications that are received by the second receive-only antenna in the first polarization and the fourth processor being configured to process wireless communications that are received by the second receive-only antenna in the second polarization.