The characteristics of multi-layer satellite are complex structure and limited channel resources. Efficient management of channel resources in multi-layer satellite can improve the work efficiency of the entire satellite system. Therefore, a channel resources management strategy for multi-layer satellite is proposed. To deal with the problem of channel resources management in LEO/MEO/GEO satellite networks, the priorities are classified by the traffic type firstly. Secondly, the users of new caller traffic in the cell are predicted based on the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. Thirdly, the access layer is chosen according to the predicted users and residual channel bandwidth. Then, the game model is used to determine whether users access or not. Finally, the degraded users are chosen by the degraded factor to release channel bandwidth. The simulation results prove that this strategy can reduce the whole blocking rate and improve the whole utility. © 2017, Editorial Office of Systems Engineering and Electronics. All right reserved.