The world’s first wooden satellite has been launched into space as part of the study on using wood to help reduce the creation of space junk.
Scientists at Kyoto University expect the wooden material to burn up when the device re-enters the atmosphere – potentially providing a way to avoid metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth.
These particles can negatively affect the environment and telecommunications, say the developers.
Each side of the boxy experimental satellite, called LignoSat, measures just 10 cm (4 inches).
It was launched on an unmanned SpaceX rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kyoto University’s Center for Human Astronomy said Tuesday.
The satellite, installed in a special container used by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew safely into space,” it said in a post on X.
A spokesman for LignoSat’s co-developer Sumitomo Forestry told AFP the launch was “successful”.
She said the satellite would “arrive at the ISS shortly and be released into outer space about a month later” to test its strength and durability.
Data will be sent from the satellite to researchers who can check for signs of stress and determine whether the satellite can withstand extreme changes in temperature.
“Satellites that are not made of metal should become mainstream,” Takao Doi, an astronaut and special professor at Kyoto University, said at a press conference earlier this year.
