These microsatellites, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, will measure drag through the use of precision orbit determination.

Beside their use in the in-situ determination of upper atmospheric density these satellites also function as technology demonstrators and as amateur radio digipeaters.

Part of the technology demonstration was the integration of a command and telemetry system that would not require the use of normal antennas that would destroy the spherical shape of the micro satellites.

The MAA also has photovoltaic cells made from copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) deposited on a stainless steel substrate which is used for coarse sun sensing and is another technology demonstrator.

The deployment of these spheres was another technology demonstrator for the newly developed Canister for All Payload Ejections (CAPE) system.