This paper discusses a method used to design a planar band-pass filter in the Ku band frequency range for a given satellite application. In order to fit a hardened specification, a filter topology, based on dual behavior resonators (DBRs), is used. In association with this topology, we propose an automated design procedure that combines both circuit and full-wave simulations. It is based on a statistical sensitivity study performed by DOE analysis. After development of the base filter, the out-of-band rejection is improved using topological modifications in order to favor transmission zeros occurrence.