System and method for increasing feeder link capacity in a satellite communications system

A system and method for increasing feeder link capacity in a satellite communication system (100), wherein a gateway (108) communicates with a satellite (102) over a feeder link (112), and wherein the satellite (102) communicates with terrestrial user terminals (106) over a user link (110). A feeder link signal (112) is produced by multiplexing a first BPSK signal and a second BPSK signal (402). The feeder link signal (612) is QPSK modulated, QPSK spread (402). The feeder link signal (612) is transmitted from the gateway (108) to the satellite (102). The satellite (102) demultiplexes the feeder link signal (612), recovering the first and second BPSK signals (702, 704, 706). The first and second BPSK signals are then modulated (502-508)(602-608), to produce a first and second user link signal (832, 834). The user link signals (832, 834) are BPSK modulated, QPSK spread. The user link signals (832,834) are transmitted from the satellite (102) to the user terminals (106).