Method of traffic switching in a low orbit satellite communication system with terminals as destination and communication system using this method

The present invention relates to a method of switching traffic in a low-orbit satellite communications system to terminals, the connection of a terminal (13) to a terrestrial communication network being accomplished by means of a station connection (12). The switching of the satellite links (11) -terminal (13) and satellite (11) -station connection is possible only within a specific area. The decision to switch the traffic is taken according to the degradation of the quality of service and the radio environment on a group of terminals of said zone. The invention also relates to equipment intended for implementing this method, in particular transmission / reception terminals, as well as interconnection earth stations.