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The effective implementation of adaptive coding and modulation for the reverse (user-to-satellite) link of broadband satellite systems, operating at Ka-band and above, calls for the resolution of a number of problems. The many-to-one reverse link nature and the related distributed interference characteristics make efficient and robust link adaptation challenging, particularly when in the presence of bursty traffic and time varying propagation conditions. In this paper, a channel estimation and adaptation algorithm, suitable for the system under analysis, are devised and their performance investigated in a Ka-band multibeam system study case for different multiple access schemes.