This paper reports on the application of co‐designed coding, modulation and equalization techniques to an INTELSAT requirement for transmitting 155‐52 Mbit/s data over a 72 MHz satellite channel. A specific solution as regards coding, modulation and equalization is proposed and analysed that differs from ‘standard’ concatenation in that the inner decoder integrates equalization, modulation and coding. In Part 1 results of extensive computer simulations are presented, examining the effect of adjacent channel interference, co‐channel interference, non‐linear distortion in representative ground and space TWTAs, multiplexers and filter distortion. In Part 2 a novel technique for integrating decision feedback equalization into the inner decoder is described. The gains in integrating the coding and equalization are shown to be significant for channels that need equalizing.