Because of the relatively low cost of launch, pico-and nanosatellites (satellites weighing as little as a kilogram), have been attracting a growing amount of attention over the past decade, particularly in the academic community. In this volume, Thakker (a senior systems engineer at Raytheon) and Shiroma (electrical engineering, U. of Hawaii) present 17 stand-alone chapters describing the applications for pico- and nanosatellites and providing information pertinent to starting a university program. Opening chapters provide overviews of programs at the U. of Illinois and the U. of Hawaii and describe case studies of specific university-launched missions for investigating scientific phenomenon or testing an engineering mechanism. The remaining chapters provide technical information on attitude determination and control systems, electrical power systems, and command and data handling and telecommunication systems. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)