Executive Summary
The recently launched multi-spot beam high throughput satellite (HTS) systems are capable of delivering several tens of more than 100 Gbps throughput, showing the users as well as the satellite operators an opportunity to significantly lower the cost of the satellite data service which was dominated by the wide beam Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) satellites. To accommodate even higher data-intensive services in the future and compete even with the ground braodband providers in some under-served markets, a much more competitive and advanced HTS system that can support at least one magnitude higher throughput and is fully flexible in relocating the payload re-sources should be envisaged. In the roadmap to the future HTS, one of the most critical part lies in the out-put section design. Since in handles the high power microwave signals, the output performance is directly related to the spacecraft sizing, spectrum efficiency and hence the total throughput that can be harvested. This paper describes and compares the feasible output section technologies and implementation configurations that can practically improve the future HTS' throughput and flexibilities.