NETWORK ENGINEERING/ SYSTEMS ENGINEERING SYSTEM FOR MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

A mobile satellite system includes at least one satellite and at least one network engineering/systems engineering (NE/SE) system. The NE/SE system performs at least one of the processes of comparing expected traffic loads with capability and availability of space and ground resources in the mobile satellite system; formulating tactical plans to maximize available resources of the at least one satellite, and producing frequency plans for different geographical regions; performing the processes of defining contingency plans for failure situations, including failure in the at least one satellite or a ground-based equipment outage; configuring the mobile satellite system including logical resources and physical components; and configuring communication paths to external organizations operatively connected to the mobile satellite system.