diff --git a/operators/constellation-node-operator/controllers/autoscalingstrategy_controller_env_test.go b/operators/constellation-node-operator/controllers/autoscalingstrategy_controller_env_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5d78bdec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/operators/constellation-node-operator/controllers/autoscalingstrategy_controller_env_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+package controllers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"time"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	appsv1 "k8s.io/api/apps/v1"
+	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
+
+	updatev1alpha1 "github.com/edgelesssys/constellation/operators/constellation-node-operator/api/v1alpha1"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("AutoscalingStrategy controller", func() {
+	// Define utility constants for object names and testing timeouts/durations and intervals.
+	const (
+		ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentName      = "cluster-autoscaler"
+		ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentNamespace = "kube-system"
+		AutoscalingStrategyName              = "test-strategy"
+
+		timeout  = time.Second * 10
+		duration = time.Second * 2
+		interval = time.Millisecond * 250
+	)
+
+	var (
+		ClusterAutoscalerStartingReplicas int32 = 0
+		DeploymentLookupKey                     = types.NamespacedName{Name: ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentName, Namespace: ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentNamespace}
+	)
+
+	checkDeploymentReplicas := func() int32 {
+		deployment := &appsv1.Deployment{}
+		err := k8sClient.Get(ctx, DeploymentLookupKey, deployment)
+		if err != nil {
+			return -1
+		}
+		if deployment.Spec.Replicas == nil {
+			// replicas defaults to 1
+			return 1
+		}
+		return *deployment.Spec.Replicas
+	}
+
+	Context("When enabling autoscaling", func() {
+		It("Should increase and decrease the replicas of the cluster-autoscaler deployment", func() {
+			By("creating a cluster-autoscaler deployment")
+			ctx := context.Background()
+			autoscalerDeployment := &appsv1.Deployment{
+				TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+					APIVersion: "apps/v1",
+					Kind:       "Deployment",
+				},
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name:      ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentName,
+					Namespace: ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentNamespace,
+				},
+				Spec: appsv1.DeploymentSpec{
+					Replicas: &ClusterAutoscalerStartingReplicas,
+					Selector: &metav1.LabelSelector{
+						MatchLabels: map[string]string{
+							"app.kubernetes.io/name": "cluster-autoscaler",
+						},
+					},
+					Template: corev1.PodTemplateSpec{
+						ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+							Labels: map[string]string{
+								"app.kubernetes.io/name": "cluster-autoscaler",
+							},
+						},
+						Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
+							Containers: []corev1.Container{
+								{Image: "cluster-autoscaler", Name: "cluster-autoscaler"},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			}
+
+			Expect(k8sClient.Create(ctx, autoscalerDeployment)).Should(Succeed())
+			createdDeployment := &appsv1.Deployment{}
+			Eventually(func() error {
+				return k8sClient.Get(ctx, DeploymentLookupKey, createdDeployment)
+			}, timeout, interval).Should(Succeed())
+			Expect(createdDeployment.Spec.Replicas).NotTo(BeNil())
+			Expect(*createdDeployment.Spec.Replicas).Should(Equal(ClusterAutoscalerStartingReplicas))
+
+			By("creating an autoscaling strategy")
+			strategy := &updatev1alpha1.AutoscalingStrategy{
+				TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+					APIVersion: "update.edgeless.systems/v1alpha1",
+					Kind:       "AutoscalingStrategy",
+				},
+				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+					Name: AutoscalingStrategyName,
+				},
+				Spec: updatev1alpha1.AutoscalingStrategySpec{
+					DeploymentName:      ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentName,
+					DeploymentNamespace: ClusterAutoscalerDeploymentNamespace,
+				},
+			}
+			Expect(k8sClient.Create(ctx, strategy)).Should(Succeed())
+			strategyLookupKey := types.NamespacedName{Name: AutoscalingStrategyName}
+			createdStrategy := &updatev1alpha1.AutoscalingStrategy{}
+			Eventually(func() error {
+				return k8sClient.Get(ctx, strategyLookupKey, createdStrategy)
+			}, timeout, interval).Should(Succeed())
+
+			By("checking the autoscaling strategy status shows zero replicas")
+			Consistently(func() (int32, error) {
+				err := k8sClient.Get(ctx, strategyLookupKey, createdStrategy)
+				if err != nil {
+					return -1, err
+				}
+				return createdStrategy.Status.Replicas, nil
+			}, duration, interval).Should(Equal(int32(0)))
+
+			By("enabling the autoscaler in the strategy")
+			Expect(k8sClient.Get(ctx, strategyLookupKey, strategy)).Should(Succeed())
+			strategy.Spec.Enabled = true
+			Expect(k8sClient.Update(ctx, strategy)).Should(Succeed())
+
+			By("checking the autoscaling deployment eventually has one replica")
+			Eventually(checkDeploymentReplicas, timeout, interval).Should(Equal(int32(1)))
+
+			By("checking the autoscaling strategy status shows one replica")
+			Consistently(func() (int32, error) {
+				err := k8sClient.Get(ctx, strategyLookupKey, createdStrategy)
+				if err != nil {
+					return -1, err
+				}
+				return createdStrategy.Status.Replicas, nil
+			}, duration, interval).Should(Equal(int32(1)))
+
+			By("disabling the autoscaler in the strategy")
+			Expect(k8sClient.Get(ctx, strategyLookupKey, strategy)).Should(Succeed())
+			strategy.Spec.Enabled = false
+			Expect(k8sClient.Update(ctx, strategy)).Should(Succeed())
+
+			By("checking the autoscaling deployment eventually has zero replicas")
+			Eventually(checkDeploymentReplicas, timeout, interval).Should(Equal(int32(0)))
+
+			By("cleaning up all resources")
+			Expect(k8sClient.Delete(ctx, autoscalerDeployment)).Should(Succeed())
+			Expect(k8sClient.Delete(ctx, strategy)).Should(Succeed())
+		})
+	})
+})
diff --git a/operators/constellation-node-operator/controllers/suite_test.go b/operators/constellation-node-operator/controllers/suite_test.go
index f79be7f0f..fc3f54bcc 100644
--- a/operators/constellation-node-operator/controllers/suite_test.go
+++ b/operators/constellation-node-operator/controllers/suite_test.go
@@ -71,6 +71,12 @@ var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
 	})
 	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
+	err = (&AutoscalingStrategyReconciler{
+		Client: k8sManager.GetClient(),
+		Scheme: k8sManager.GetScheme(),
+	}).SetupWithManager(k8sManager)
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
 	go func() {
 		defer GinkgoRecover()
 		err = k8sManager.Start(ctx)