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DESCENT is a CubeSat mission that will demonstrate the potential for electrodynamic tethers to deorbit small spacecraft from Low Earth Orbits. The space segment, consists of two 1U CubeSats that are planned for launch from the International Space Station in Q2 2019, from where they will be inserted into orbit. For launch and early operations, the two spacecraft will be held together by a tensioned wire. The spacecraft will not perform any operation for the first 30 minutes after ejection from the station, to avoid any interference with ISS operations. After a link to ground has been established and initial housekeeping tasks are performed, the tensioned wire will be cut allowing the two cubes to separate. The two cubes are connected with a 100 m-long tape tether. The tether is attached to a Spindt array on one of the CubeSats, which will be enabled post-tether-deployment to eject the collected electrons back into the plasma. This will generate a Lorentz force that will help deorbit the satellite. This paper highlights the operation sequence and an optimal system test procedure for a pre-test-campaign validation process of the DESCENT mission.

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