A satellite communication system and method are presented for operation in one or more frequency bands to simultaneously relay data signals between a plurality of remote terminals and one or more ground stations (gateways) in both return and forward links. This allows the remote terminal to be of a few centimeters in size. The satellite communication system comprises a processor configured and operable to receive from each of the remote terminals an uplink return signal in the form of a plurality of terminal return signals spread over a predetermined first frequency allocation in said one or more frequency bands according to a predetermined spread function, de-spread the received plurality of terminal return signals, and generate a downlink return signal, corresponding to at least some of the received plurality of spread terminal return signals and having a predetermined second frequency allocation, to be sent to one of the ground stations.