Life pods, which are also called escape pods, were small emergency crafts. Every deep-space starship was equipped with them as standard. Hyperdrives were installed in some of the more luxurious versions.
Yoda, a Jedi Master, used an escape pod to leave Kashyyyk after the declaration of Order 66; some escape pods were made to ascend into the upper atmosphere to await rescue by another vessel. Some planets possessed escape pod networks that could launch into the upper atmosphere to escape danger. Cal Kestis, a Jedi, harbored a strong dislike for escape pods, likely stemming from his experiences during Order 66, when Jaro Tapal, Kestis' master, was fatally wounded by clone troopers and died in an escape pod in front of his Padawan. Smaller vessels, such as the Millennium Falcon and other light freighters, carried small escape crafts that could only fit one normally-sized humanoid in a rigid, unmoving, and upright position.
During the Battle of Atollon, Alexsandr Kallus escaped the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera using an Imperial escape pod after subduing the stormtrooper who was escorting him.
R2-D2 and C-3PO utilized an escape pod to smuggle the Death Star plans away from the Tantive IV. Although the Devastator's gunners detected the launch, they opted not to engage the pod, assuming it was malfunctioning due to the absence of life signs.
To comply with Senate investigations into possible war crimes, the Devastator would have been required to provide justification for firing on an escape pod, according to Imperial Naval Regulation 132.CAT.ch(22).
Han Solo, following the advice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, jettisoned the escape pods from the Millennium Falcon when the Death Star's tractor beam captured the ship. Despite lamenting their loss due to their expense, he recognized the strategic value of the deception and recorded a captain's log claiming he had abandoned ship.
The escape pods of the Kilji species were small, metallic cylinders. An individual inside a Kilji pod could survive for a few hours before depleting their oxygen supply. These escape pods were standard equipment on Kilji war cruisers, and they broadcast their location after being launched.