This paper studies the beamforming design problem to achieve max-min fairness
(MMF) in multibeam satellite communications. Contrary to the conventional
linear precoding (NoRS) that relies on fully treating any residual interference
as noise, we consider a novel multibeam multicast beamforming strategy based on
Rate-Splitting Multiple Access (RSMA). RSMA relies on linearly precoded
ratesplitting (RS) at the transmitter and Successive Interference Cancellation
(SIC) at receivers to enable a flexible framework for non-orthogonal
transmission and robust interbeam interference management. Aiming at achieving
MMF among multiple co-channel multicast beams, a per-feed available power
constrained optimization problem is formulated with different quality of
channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). The superiority of RS for
multigroup multicast and multibeam satellite communication systems compared
with conventional scheme (NoRS) is demonstrated via simulations