This nanosatellite (nicknamed "Petey") was the result of a Department of Defense (DoD) initiative to encourage university engineering students to design and build spacecraft. Students at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Arizona State University, and New Mexico State University collaborated in developing Petey, using off-the-shelf electronics and materials.

Petey was designed fly as part of a network of three nanosatellites. Each satellite was to be a "nerve" in a larger system, individually and together performing communications and remote imaging functions. The hardware and software requirements of these dual function, network satellites demonstrated a new level of complexity in the "amateur" field, a direct result of DoD funding and project guidance.

This artifact is a flight-qualified article, with complete instrumentation; due to launch vehicle complications it never flew. The University of Colorado at Boulder, Arizona State University, and New Mexico State University donated Petey to the Museum in 2006.