We have simulated the behaviour of a fade countermeasure control system that predicts the attenuation level on the satellite link on the basis of previous attenuation samples, using the experimental rain attenuation data measured at 11.6 GHz in three Italian stations with the Sirio satellite. Some dynamic characteristics of fading are investigated and the performances of prediction algorithms based on linear regression are evaluated. © 1990, The Institution of Electrical Engineers. All rights reserved.