Preparation and Verification Method at ETB/FM Test Level for Establishing Satellite IAC Procedures

Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) is the critical final verification stage conducted after launch vehicle (LV) sepa-ration and orbit insertion, prior to normal mission opera-tions. LEOP consists of Initial Activation and Checkout (IAC) and In-Orbit Test (IOT). Within this phase, the spacecraft (S/C) bus IAC is of paramount importance. Tra-ditionally, due to the impossibility of physical LEOP testing on the ground, verification has been limited to procedural checks at the Electrical Test Bed (ETB) level. However, this occurs early in the development cycle (around Preliminary Design Review (PDR)), leaving a significant gap where de-sign changes or unexpected variables can emerge. Further-more, conventional End-to-End (ETE) tests—which inte-grate the satellite and ground station (G/S)—often exclude S/C bus IAC procedure as a formal test item. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a robust preparation and verification method at both the ETB and Flight Model (FM) test levels to ensure reliable early operations after launch.