CubeSat is an educational program from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and Stanford University's Space Systems Development Lab (that's a mouthful, ain't it? CPSUSLOSUSSDL isn't much prettier.) which creates launch opportunities for universities previously unable to access space.

A less-marketingy way of saying it is that they help students launch itty-bitty (10 cm, 1 kilo) satellite, for about $100k. Yes, that's cheap - normally that's an "M" after the 100, not a "k".



Neat, huh? If that's not cute enough, they call the module a P-POD. ("peapod", get it? Okay, so nerds aren't necessarily clever)