Reconfiguration of communications constellation with ISLs: Fix the net

When satellite failure occurs in a communications constellation with inter-satellite links, beside the coverage loss, its link network will become chapped which results in connectivity performance degradation. To reconfigure this type of constellation based on system performance, satellite on-orbit rephasing is required to fix the net. A performance-based evaluation method is proposed to weigh optional reconfiguration schemes with multiple types of evaluation criteria for different situations such as connection break-off or connection quality drop. The evaluation process is demonstrated and discussed through a case study.