Commissioning Plan: End-to-End Steps for New Ground Stations

Commissioning is the structured process of proving a new ground station works as designed, is safe to operate, and can reliably support real passes. It bridges the gap between “installed equipment” and “operational service.” A good commissioning plan reduces surprises, shortens time to first customer use, and creates the documentation operators need to run the station consistently.

What Commissioning Is and Why It Matters
Commissioning Principles: Safety, Repeatability, and Evidence
Roles and Ownership: Who Does What
Pre-Commissioning Readiness Checklist
Site and Facilities Verification
Network and Security Baseline
Time and Frequency Reference Validation
Antenna and Tracking Commissioning
RF Chain Commissioning: From Feed to Equipment Room
Baseband, Modem, and Recording Commissioning
End-to-End Pass Rehearsals and First Light
Operational Handoff: Runbooks, Training, and Acceptance
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Commissioning Deliverables: What to Save
Glossary: Commissioning Terms

What Commissioning Is and Why It Matters

A new station is not truly “ready” when the antenna is installed and devices power on. Commissioning is the evidence-based proof that the station can execute passes safely, capture data reliably, and deliver outputs in the formats and timelines your operations require. It also confirms that alarms, logs, and access controls are in place so problems can be found and fixed quickly.

Commissioning matters because early failures are costly. Missed passes can delay missions, and “mystery issues” often come from incomplete baselines or undocumented changes. A commissioning plan reduces these risks by moving step-by-step from basic checks to full end-to-end operations.

Commissioning Principles: Safety, Repeatability, and Evidence

The best commissioning plans are not just a list of tasks. They follow a few principles that make results reliable and easy to audit later.

Safety first: transmitter controls, interlocks, and procedures are validated before any transmission is possible.
One change at a time: avoid stacking multiple unknowns; isolate variables so you can understand outcomes.
Record evidence: every major test should produce a saved result: measurements, screenshots, logs, or structured pass reports.
Define “done”: each stage should have clear acceptance criteria so you know when to move forward.
Plan for handoff: commissioning should produce runbooks and baselines that operators will use for months or years.

Roles and Ownership: Who Does What

Commissioning requires coordination. Even small stations benefit from clear ownership so tasks do not fall between teams. A practical division of responsibilities looks like this:

Facilities lead: power, grounding, environmental controls, physical access, and site safety.
Network and security lead: segmentation, remote access, authentication, logging, and hardened baselines.
RF and antenna lead: waveguide/coax, converters, amplifiers, RF switching, and calibration.
Baseband lead: modem integration, recording pipelines, decoding, and data integrity checks.
Operations lead: pass procedures, scheduling, alarm thresholds, and runbook readiness.
Integrator or program owner: manages test sequencing and acceptance documentation.

Even when one person wears multiple hats, naming the roles clarifies what “complete” means.

Pre-Commissioning Readiness Checklist

Before running technical tests, confirm the station is ready to be tested. This avoids repeating work due to missing prerequisites.

Inventory complete: equipment is received, labeled, and matched to the design list.
Documentation available: wiring diagrams, network plans, and configuration profiles are accessible to the team.
Access ready: accounts exist, credentials are managed, and remote paths are working.
Tools on hand: basic RF test tools, cabling spares, and required adapters are available on site.
Change control active: a simple way to track changes during commissioning is in place.

This stage is also the right time to define acceptance criteria for each subsystem so you can measure progress.

Site and Facilities Verification

Facilities issues are a common source of commissioning delays because they create intermittent problems that look like equipment faults. Start by validating the basics: power quality, grounding, environmental stability, and physical safety.

Facilities checks that prevent later surprises

Power: confirm stable voltage, proper UPS behavior, and generator transfer (if present).
Grounding and bonding: verify grounding connections for racks, waveguide/coax runs, and antenna structure.
Environmental controls: confirm cooling performance under expected heat loads and verify alarms.
Cable routing: check for strain relief, weather sealing, and protection from water ingress.
Physical access: confirm locks, access logs, and safe procedures for antenna area work.

Capture a simple baseline: photos of critical areas, rack layouts, and labeled cabling. These references help later troubleshooting.

Network and Security Baseline

Network readiness is essential because modern stations depend on remote operations, centralized monitoring, and data delivery to external systems. Establish a secure baseline before integrating mission traffic.

Baseline network checks

Segmentation: confirm control systems are separated from general IT and data delivery networks.
Remote access: validate a single, controlled access path with strong authentication.
Device management: confirm management interfaces are not exposed broadly and are reachable only from approved zones.
Time consistency: ensure all systems reference a consistent time source for logs and pass events.
Logging: confirm critical devices and services send logs to a central store.

Create a “known-good” network snapshot: key IP ranges, device names, and approved access patterns. Commissioning moves faster when operators can trust the map.

Time and Frequency Reference Validation

Timing and frequency stability affect more than just accuracy; they can determine whether a modem locks and stays locked. Validate timing early because timing problems can masquerade as RF issues.

Practical validation steps

Reference distribution: confirm reference signals reach the devices that require them.
Holdover behavior: verify what happens if the external reference is lost.
Monitoring: confirm alarms and logs capture reference loss, drift indicators, and recovery events.
Timestamp alignment: ensure pass logs, recordings, and monitoring events use consistent timestamps.

Record baseline results so future troubleshooting can distinguish “normal drift” from a new fault.

Antenna and Tracking Commissioning

The antenna is the most visible part of a station, but commissioning it is more than “it moves.” You need confidence in pointing accuracy, tracking stability, safety limits, and recovery behavior.

Mechanical and safety checks

Axis motion: verify smooth movement across full range without binding.
Limits and interlocks: confirm software and hardware limits behave as expected.
Emergency stop: validate emergency stop behavior and recovery steps.
Wind handling: confirm stow behavior and any protective logic for high winds.

Pointing and tracking validation

Reference alignment: confirm azimuth and elevation references are calibrated correctly.
Program track: validate tracking from predicted path inputs.
Signal-based refinement: validate any step track or fine-peaking routines used operationally.
Stability checks: verify the system holds pointing under normal wind conditions without oscillation.

The outcome of antenna commissioning should be a repeatable “pointing confidence” baseline and a clear procedure for recalibration if drift is detected later.

RF Chain Commissioning: From Feed to Equipment Room

RF commissioning proves that signal levels, noise performance, and switching behave as expected from the feed to the rack. It also identifies loss points that can quietly erode link margin.

RF chain verification steps

Physical inspection: confirm connectors, seals, and waveguide joints are correct and protected from moisture.
Loss checks: verify cable and waveguide losses are within expected ranges.
Converters and switching: validate frequency translation, switching states, and control paths.
Amplifiers: confirm health status, protection behavior, and expected output characteristics.
Monitoring points: verify couplers and sensors provide trustworthy readings for operations.

Produce a clear RF baseline: expected signal levels at key points, and the normal range of noise floor behavior. This baseline saves time in future incidents.

Baseband, Modem, and Recording Commissioning

Baseband commissioning is where “we can receive RF” becomes “we can produce usable data.” This stage validates lock performance, decoding reliability, recording integrity, and how data is packaged for delivery.

Key validation steps

Lock behavior: confirm acquisition time, stability, and recovery after short fades.
Parameter discipline: validate that profiles load correctly and are not silently overridden.
Error handling: confirm the system behaves predictably when lock is lost mid-pass.
Recording integrity: verify continuity, file closure behavior, and metadata completeness.
Data checks: validate basic completeness checks and expected volumes for test passes.

A strong commissioning plan includes at least one “known good” reference signal or test scenario, so the team can isolate issues without guessing whether the satellite signal itself is the source of the problem.

End-to-End Pass Rehearsals and First Light

End-to-end rehearsal is where you run the station as it will be run in production: schedule a contact, configure equipment via the operational interface, acquire the signal, record or process data, and deliver outputs. The goal is to validate the full workflow, including failure handling.

What to include in rehearsals

Dry run: execute the workflow without mission RF to confirm orchestration behavior and timing.
Live pass: run at least one real pass from setup through delivery with full logging enabled.
Degraded scenarios: practice a mid-pass loss of lock and confirm alarms and recovery steps.
Operator handoff: confirm a second operator can repeat the workflow using runbooks alone.

“First light” is the first confirmed successful end-to-end pass. Treat it as a milestone, but also as the start of a stabilization period where you expect small adjustments and refine baselines.

Operational Handoff: Runbooks, Training, and Acceptance

Commissioning is incomplete until operators can run the station safely without the commissioning team. Handoff is about transferring knowledge into durable artifacts: runbooks, baselines, and procedures.

Handoff essentials

Runbooks: step-by-step pass execution, fault handling, and safe-mode procedures.
Acceptance criteria: clear definitions of pass success and station readiness.
Alarm thresholds: tuned to real station behavior to avoid noise and missed signals.
Training: at least one supervised shift where operators run real or rehearsal passes.
Ownership: clear on-call and escalation paths for subsystems.

A practical acceptance step is a short “operational readiness review” where operators demonstrate a pass from start to finish and show how they would respond to a small set of common alarms.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Many commissioning delays come from predictable issues. Planning for them reduces rework and missed milestones.

Skipping baselines: without recorded “normal,” every later issue becomes harder to diagnose.
Too many changes at once: changes should be staged so failures can be traced to a single cause.
Profile drift: ad hoc edits during testing can become “the new normal” without documentation.
Timing not validated: time reference problems often look like RF or modem instability.
Monitoring added last: lack of logging and alarms makes commissioning slower, not faster.
Unclear ownership: tasks stall when teams assume “someone else” is responsible.

A simple mitigation is to maintain a commissioning log: what changed, why, when, and what evidence shows the result. This log becomes invaluable during handoff.

Commissioning Deliverables: What to Save

Commissioning should produce artifacts that make operations easier and reduce future risk. These deliverables are often more valuable than the tests themselves because they establish institutional memory.

As-built documentation: wiring diagrams, rack layouts, and network maps that match reality.
Configuration baselines: versioned profiles, device configs, and approved templates.
Performance baselines: pointing accuracy, signal levels, lock times, and typical pass outcomes.
Alarm and monitoring baseline: what is monitored, threshold settings, and alert routing.
Runbooks: pass operations, maintenance procedures, and fault response steps.
Acceptance report: summary of tests performed, results, and remaining known issues.

A commissioning plan is successful when the station can be operated and maintained with confidence months later, even by people who were not present during the build.