In a satellite communication system, comprising a hub, a satellite and plurality of remote terminals (e.g., VSATs), a method for allocating timeslots over a return channel to VSATs in real time, without a reference to a predefined time-frequency map, for at least the purpose of optimizing return channel utilization. Also presented are a method for dividing a return channel to transmission channels in real time, a method for determining a most suitable timeslot type for a VSAT per allocation period and a tiling algorithm for mapping allocated capacity onto return channel bandwidth.