The world’s first wooden satellite has been launched into space as part of study on using timber 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 generating metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth.
These particles may negatively affect the environment and telecommunications, the developers say.
Each side of the box-like experimental satellite, named LignoSat, measures just 10cm (4in).
It was launched on an unmanned SpaceX rocket from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Kyoto University’s Human Spaceology Center said on Tuesday.
The satellite, installed in a special container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew into space safely”, it said in a post on X.
A spokesperson for LignoSat’s co-developer Sumitomo Forestry told AFP the launch had been successful.
She said the satellite would “arrive at the ISS soon, and will be released to 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 strain and determine if 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.
