Escape pods, also known as life pods, were small escape crafts intended for use in emergencies. They were standard aboard all deep-space starships. Some were fitted with hyperdrives.
Some escape pods were designed to fly into the upper atmosphere to await being picked up by a ship, which was how Yoda departed Kashyyyk when Order 66 was declared. Some planets had a network of escape pods that could launch into the upper atmosphere away from danger. Smaller ships, such as the Millennium Falcon and other light freighters, carried such crafts that could only accommodate one typically-sized humanoid in a fixed, immobile, and straightened position.
R2-D2 and C-3PO used an escape pod to smuggle the Death Star plans off the Tantive IV. The Devastator‘s officers noticed, but neglected to fire as they detected no lifeforms aboard.
At the advice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo jettisoned the escape pods of the Millennium Falcon when the ship was caught in the tractor beam of the Death Star. He lamented their loss, as they were expensive, but recognized the value of the move as a ruse and recorded a captain‘s log stating that he had abandoned the ship.