First wooden satellite launched into space

First satellite made out of wood

The world's first wooden satellite has been launched on a SpaceX rocket for a resupply mission to the International Space Station, the Japanese designers who built it announced on Tuesday.

Scientists at Kyoto University believe that the wooden part of the device should burn up when it re-enters the atmosphere, potentially avoiding a "rain" of metal particles that detach from the satellite as it returns to Earth.

According to the developers, such particles can hurt both the environment and telecommunications.

Each side of the experimental box-shaped LignoSat satellite is just 10 cm long

Kyoto University's Center for Human Cosmology reported that it lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida with an unmanned rocket.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said on the social network X that the satellite, mounted in a special container designed by the agency, "safely lifted off into space."

A spokeswoman for Sumitomo Forestry, the company involved in the development of the LignoSat satellite, told the AFP news agency that the satellite was launched "successfully."

Satelite's job to gather data

It "will soon arrive at the ISS and will be re-launched in open space a month later" to test its strength and durability, she explained.

The satellite will send data to scientists who will look for signs of overstress and try to determine whether the satellite can withstand extreme temperature changes.

"Non-metallic satellites are set to become mainstream," said Takao Doi, astronaut and special professor at Kyoto University, speaking at a press conference this year.

Based on ELTA reports