So, is it too much of a weight penalty to put a capsule-lauch emergency booster on the satellite capsule for such a test?
If the static test is satisfactory, then you unbolt and remove the safety rocket before the real launch. Or leave it on the capsule to recover the satellite if the main rocket goes off at the real launch.
Or, after a few seconds of flight, use the thrust from the emergency rocket to add a few lbs of thrust while in flight. Then eject the empty safety rocket.
The fairing over the satellite isn't much more than a dome, designed to resist aerodynamic pressures only.
Attaching an escape tower on top of it (a la mercury capsule) would require substantial reinforcement of the fairing to allow it to support the weight of the satellite multiplied by the lift-off acceleration of the escape rockets. That will be many more times the load the fairing can handle without substantial reinforcement.
And then there's the matter of landing the escaped capsule safely...
This is complex and expensive enough that I think it's only been justified for capsules carrying humans.
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