This paper provides an overview of a technical study on the satellite radio interfaces based on 3GPP WCDMA system. First, the outcome of the technical study is introduced, which has been carried out by the Mobile Satellite System Working Group of the ETSI Satellite Earth Satellite Technical Committee (ETSI TC SES MSS). The study dealt with the configurations and performance of the 3GPP WCDMA (UTRAN) radio interface over a satellite link. Second, as an evolution of satellite-specific radio interface, the study results are addressed on the possible adaptations of WCDMA to the satellite link in order to maximize the radio link performance. The resultant outcome of the study was reflected in a detail on the G and C families of the satellite radio interface of the ITU-R Recommendation M. 1457, respectively. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.