HIGH THROUGHPUT SATELLITES AND METHODS OF OPERATING HIGH THROUGHPUT SATELLITES FOR RELAYING DATA BETWEEN LOW EARTH ORBIT SATELLITES TO ENDPOINTS

A high throughput satellite (HTS) and a method of operating the HTS for relaying data between a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a target ground station, where the HTS provides spot beams for a spot beam coverage area. The method of operating the HTS includes: determining an estimated trajectory of an orbiting LEO satellite; assigning a plurality of assigned spot beams having a matching color re-use polarization; and transmitting assignments of the plurality of assigned spot beams to the high throughput satellite to cause the high throughput satellite to maintain the inter-satellite link via a first spot beam and one or more assigned subsequent spot beams having the matching color re-use polarization.