Five mini satellites will be developed at the University of Florida aided by $450,000 contributed this year by Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT], the company announced.

The satellites will investigate technological advances such as miniaturized, space-hardened GPS electronics and state-of-the-art intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. Lockheed Martin will also perform payload data analysis for these satellite missions.

Called CubeSats, the satellites measure 10 centimeters (less than four inches) on each side. They operate on a power output similar to a cell phone and weigh less than 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). They can be built and launched relatively inexpensively and in a matter of months, compared to more sophisticated satellites that weigh thousandq of pounds and cost millions of dollars to develop and launch.

The university’s principal investigator on this project is Gloria J. Wiens, director of the Space, Automation and Manufacturing Mechanisms Laboratory, and her co-investigators are Janise McNair and Anil Rao.

These activities will complement the work of the Advanced Space Technologies Research & Engineering Center (ASTREC), led by the University of Florida’s Norman Fitz-Coy. ASTREC is an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center under the National Science Foundation that works with the space industry to incorporate and evaluate technmlogical innovations in their true operational environment.