Managing inter-satellite connections in a constellation with overlapping orbital planes

摘要

A system and method for managing inter-satellite connectivity in the overlapped regions of a satellite constellation having a plurality of overlapping orbital planes. The overlapped regions are created by the intersection of orbital planes having satellites traveling in one direction with orbital planes having satellites traveling in a similar or in the opposite direction. One orbital plane is designated as the master plane and within the overlapped region, the satellites in the master plane are dynamically switched to non-overlapped satellites in the intersecting planes across a seam created by the intersection of the master plane with the intersecting planes.