A Study on the Strategy of Test and Evaluation for LEO Satellites

A study on the Test and Evaluation(T & E) planning and method for low earth orbit(LEO) satellites according to the Defense Acquisition Regulation is described in this paper. In the Korean military acquisition program, T & E has to be conducted to verify the end-users requirements. Until now, satellites developed in Korea have not undergone the test and evaluation procedure following the military acquisition process because they were civilian satellites. T & E strategy shall be established for ongoing or future military space programs. Considering the characteristics of the space system, such as a satellite cannot be retrieved or repaired after being launched from the ground, there are limitations applying T & E methods of general weapons systems to verification of satellite. Therefore, this paper described the plan of T & E for LEO satellites that considers the characteristics of the space system. Two strategies for implementing this plan are presented, each describing its pros and cons.