Motivated by the variety of broadband satellite multimedia communication systems that have been proposed, the purpose of this paper is to describe a generic satellite gateway and terminal architecture that can be adapted to different systems. The systems that are planned share several features, but also differ in many aspects, like air-interfaces and link protocols. A generic terrestrial segment must exploit commonalties and be easily adaptable to differences. Broadband satellite users can be grouped into different user groups. The types of services, the way services are offered and the equipment requirements are affected by the distinction into different user categories. Gateways need to be cost-effective and possible to customize to different operator scenarios. Terminals have a tough challenge to meet price targets at the Ka-band for consumers, while for business users the capabilities and cost of use for the system space segment has priority. (7 pages)