The world's first wooden satellite is heading into space

This cube, measuring 10 centimeters on a side, took off aboard a SpaceX rocket. The objective of the material is to anticipate its inevitable end of life.

How will it burn? The world's very first wooden satellite took off aboard a SpaceX rocket, its Japanese designers announced Tuesday, November 5. The experimental satellite, called LignoSat and whose appearance is that of a wooden cube only 10 centimeters on a side, was launched aboard an unmanned rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, said the Space Studies Center of Kyoto University.

The wooden satellite, installed in a special container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew into space safely” as part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station, the latter wrote.

The objective of the material is to anticipate its inevitable end of life: when it eventually re-enters the atmosphere, the wood should burn without generating the usual metallic particles associated with satellites falling back to Earth, according to scientists from Kyoto. These particles can have a negative impact on the environment but also on telecommunications, according to them.

Data will be sent from the satellite to researchers, who can check for signs of deformation and determine whether it can withstand extreme temperature changes. “Satellites that are not made of metal are expected to become widespread,” said Takao Doi, astronaut and professor at Kyoto University, during a press conference at the beginning of the year.