A beam steering control for a mobile satellite communications antenna, includes an antenna having a steering mechanism; a dynamic rate sensor for producing a signal related to the rate of change of position of a vehicle to which the antenna is mounted; and a control system for controlling the steering mechanism, the control system including a satellite tracking loop, an inertial stabilization loop, a calibration algorithm for dynamically calibrating the rate sensor, and a satellite acquisition algorithm for determining a azimuth angle of the antenna relative to an inertial reference. A method for beam steering a mobile satellite communications antenna, includes mounting an antenna on a steering mechanism; using a dynamic rate sensor to produce a signal related to the rate of change of position of a vehicle to which the antenna is mounted; and controlling the steering mechanism, using a control system including a satellite tracking loop, an inertial stabilization loop, a calibration algorithm for dynamically calibrating the rate sensor, and a satellite acquisition algorithm for determining a azimuth angle of the antenna relative to an inertial reference. Special techniques are employed to tolerate signal outages in a fading communication channel, while other techniques are employed to overcome practical and economical limitations of the hardware.
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