Apparatus and method for paging a user terminal (UT) using a satellite communications system having a gateway and one or more satellites, wherein each satellite produces a plurality (n) of beams and each beam includes a plurality of channels. The method of the present invention includes the step of recalling a first location of the UT, wherein the first location corresponds to a location of the UT at a first time t.sub.1. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by performing a lookup in a table or database that includes location information for user terminals at different points in time. The method also includes the step of determining a first group (g.sub.1) of beams which covers the first location of the UT at a second time t.sub.2, where g.sub.1