  High throughput satellites (HTS), with their digital payload technology, are
expected to play a key role as enablers of the upcoming 6G networks. HTS are
mainly designed to provide higher data rates and capacities. Fueled by
technological advancements including beamforming, advanced modulation
techniques, reconfigurable phased array technologies, and electronically
steerable antennas, HTS have emerged as a fundamental component for future
network generation. This paper offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art of HTS
systems, with a focus on standardization, patents, channel multiple access
techniques, routing, load balancing, and the role of software-defined
networking (SDN). In addition, we provide a vision for next-satellite systems
that we named as extremely-HTS (EHTS) toward autonomous satellites supported by
the main requirements and key technologies expected for these systems. The EHTS
system will be designed such that it maximizes spectrum reuse and data rates,
and flexibly steers the capacity to satisfy user demand. We introduce a novel
architecture for future regenerative payloads while summarizing the challenges
imposed by this architecture.
